May 3, 2024

Minister Campbell, you have your three
minutes.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had the privilege of
attending the celebration of life service for Shirlene Pa-tricia [Raynor -]Simmons, a constituent of mine. She is
the wife of trade unionist Collin Simmons; the mother of
Abdul, Ajani and Akil Simmons. What we h eard during
the celebration of life service was that Shirlene had a
strong work ethic that was balanced by a zest and love
for life and an enjoyment of life. And one of her skills
that was highlighted was that she was quite the master
in the kitchen. And I can attest to that, Mr. Speaker, in
that I enjoyed some of the treats that she baked at the
2017 polling station during the general election. Again, Mr. Speaker, we have lost another treasure in Devonshire. They have gone on to greener pastures. And I
would like condolences to be sent to the families.
On a happier note and on a sporting note, I
want to congratulate Coaches Ben Smith and Shona Palmer. I had the pleasure of greeting the swimming
team, those members who did return to the Island.
They had very successful CARIFTA swimming championships, winn ing 23 or 24 medals. Connor Hupman
in particular won seven. Elijah Daley I believe won four. Madelyn Moore, Logan Watson- Brown and Rory Shepherd won three. Katherine Wheddon won two. We had Adriana Argent and Bella Howes also winning medals,
I believe. And there were other members of the team.
But well done to the swimming team, well done to the coaches!
And lastly on a sporting note, Mr. Speaker, I
want to congratulate St. George’s Cricket Club for winning their first FA [Football Association] Cup, PHC
[Pembroke Hamilton Club] —

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Vance Campbell: I associate the whole House —
PHC on winning back -to-back league titles, the Devonshire Colts for going 16 and zero in winning the first division. PHC won the premiership for two years in a row.
And Wolves, my constituency team, for winning promo-tion to the premiership along with the Devonshire Colts.
So congratulations to our athletes!
And thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister.
1168 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Does any other Member wish to make a contribution?
Minister of Education.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I start off sadly by sending condolences to the family of Cecil “Junks” Durham. Mr.
Speaker, I will associate the entire House with this. Mr.
Speaker, while I did find out that we had a very close
family tie later on in life, and I did not really know him, I
did know of his work within the Progressive Labour Party, which I did hold in high esteem.
Mr. Speaker, Junks not only ran in two elections, the second and third one that were carried out under the new Constitution, but he also was the chairman of the party. He also conducted audits for the
party, free of charge of course. Later on in life, he would still remain active with C -7, organising events for them,
Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, he was also a former drum
major awardee, and he was also part of the 50 people
celebrated at the 50
th anniversary of the Progressive
Labour Party as one of the 50 grass- root members who
have made the party the party that it was. Mr. Speaker,
he was a trailblazer. He was a gentle man. He was also
known for his work with the BIU [Bermuda Industrial
Union] for many, many years as well. And I would like
condolences sent to his family on this occasion.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like condolences
sent to the family of Ross Reid Robinson, a constituent
of mine who passed. I know sitting down with Ross and
having conversations with him, he always was an avid gardener and he had lots of things growing in his garden. I remember one time taking my daughter with me so she could explore his garden and look. And so he is
a tremendous loss to the Loyal Hill area, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to send congratulations to the Department of Education, namely, Ms.
Shannon Rose Robinson for the Spring into the Arts
series that started last night. Last night we were treated
with wonderful displays from our senior schools, Mr .
Speaker. And I do encourage all Members of Parlia-ment to please put down in their calendars to attend
one of the next three events, which will feature the eastern region of schools, the central region of schools and the western region of schools. Those w ill be held on
March 9, March 16 and March 30. And those, Mr.
Speaker, are at CedarBridge Academy starting at six o’clock in the Ruth Seaton James Centre for Performing Arts.
And lastly, Mr. Speaker, and this was something that came especially to me last week. I was asked to ensure that I sent congratulations —you should recognise this —to Walt and Brenda Lister on the occasion
of their 56
th anniversary . You may wonder why I am
sending that out; Brenda is a relative of mine as well.
So they were married on April 20, 1968, and they celebrated 56 years of blissful marriage here recently.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Deputy Speaker, you have your three
minutes.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated with
the remarks for Cecil Junks Durham. He was a man who gave of his heart and his pocket. He was very kind
and gentle to everyone he met. His demeanour never
changed. Cecil Junks Durham played for the best team
in Bermuda in the 1960s and early 1970s, Devonshire
Colts.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And he also played
while he attended university. He played for Howard
University. And he was the one who scored the goal
that resulted in victory for Howard University, being the
first historically Black college in the United States to win
a national coll egiate title.

Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Associate me.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And I would also like to
associate Minister Weeks, Mr. Speaker.
Cecil was a treasurer at the BIU, having
worked first down at Front Street in one of the banks.
And he was lured away by the BIU, and he worked
there. And he was an integral part of our executive.
Cecil leaves to mourn his wife of 60 years, Deanna
Musson, from Frog Alley, as I know it.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: No, no. Frog Alley. You
just came lately. I stayed down there—

[Laughter]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And two children, Brian
and Kylah, and three grandchildren, Mr. Speaker. Cecil
will be sorely missed by all who knew him, particularly his family and those at the BIU, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I also would like to send out condolences to the family of Gary “Boochie” Gibbons from
Harlem. Gary leaves to mourn his eight children, four
boys and four girls; and a whole host of family in Bailey’s Bay. And he certainly was a Bailey’s Bay Club person. In fact, he and his wife Shirley, the late Shirley
[Ann] Gibbons, were one of those [couples] who put
their hands and their labours together and helped build
Bailey’s Bay Club. So he will be sorely missed by those,
particularly in Harlem and t hose in Bailey’s Bay.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the remarks for Shirlene Dill [sic], who married my
cousin Collin, my blood cousin Collin. She was an employee at the credit union at one time, and certainly a
loving mother to her three children and grandmother to


Bermuda House of Assembly her grands and certainly a marvellous wife to my
cousin, Collin.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Quite a loss; quite a loss. I
send my deepest condolences to his family, his chil-dren, his grandchildren. Quite a loss there.
I would also like to send condolences to the
family of Brother Malcolm Lowe (married to my cousin Vicky) who passed just a couple of days ago. Deepest
condolences to the family on their loss.
And I would like to add my voice to the condolences for [the family of] Mr. Cecil Durham for his sac-rifice and contribution to the growth and expansion of
the Progressive Labour Party during a time when it was not easy to do so.
And before I take my seat I would like to end
on a positive note and join in the congratulations of the anniversary of former Member Walter Lister and his
wife Brenda, who is also my godmother. Happy Anniversary!
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, good
morning.
I would like to be associated with the condolences to the family of Cecil Durham, particularly his
widow whom I worked with several years ago.
I would also like to extend condolences to the
family of Lt. Col. Michael Darling, the Third Command-ing Officer of the Bermuda Regiment, who served with
distinction. It is an interesting experience for somebody like me who was the Ninth Commanding Officer. That
meant I served with him . . . well, I did not serve with
him, but I served in the Regiment as a private soldier and knew him as the honorary colonel. And about 17
years later I joined that rank of officers as well. Certainly
he supported I think ever y commanding officer during
their command. It is a very small group of people, and you are very much alone in making decisions to com-mand. There are a very few and small group of people
who have done it before you whom you can rely on for
advice and counse l during that time. And he was one
of those who provided that to me. So I extend sincere condolences to his widow and his wider family.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, as I have done
in the past, I am going to express my birthday wishes
to my constituents. The numbers keep getting longer
and longer for persons who are over 65. I have Gloria
Ray, who turned 95; Ann White, who turned 93; Barbara Lee, who turned 80; Martin Brewer, who turned
80; June Butterfield, who turned 65; Clyde Wilson, who
turned 70; and last but not least, Charles Dowling , who
turned 105 years old.
I also would like to express my condolences to
[the family of] Elizabeth Jones, who was a resident of Hinson’s Island.
And also my condolences to the family of the
late Lori Robinson, who was my cousin. Lori was a
teacher in the education system for almost 30 years.
She taught at West End Primary and then she taught at
Sandy’s Middle School. I give my condolences to her
children, Malik and Malay. At the funeral, which was
certainly a celebration of life (and I associate Minister
Wilson), her children—I should say her students, so
many of them attended her funeral. They were actually
the pallbearers. You had family members who came
and expressed what a difference she made in terms of
the education and in the lives of their children.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good
morning, everyone, please.
Mr. Speaker, with some sadness I wish to ask
that condolences be sent to the family of Rhyn
1170 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Bearden. He was the son of Sacha Bearden. Rhyn tragically lost his life in the most recent traffic accident on
Khyber Pass recently. Actually, Rhyn was on his way
to work. His family business is in my constituency. So
he was not far away from his job when he tragically lost his life. I had had the opportunity to speak with Rhyn on
a couple of occasions as I visited the family business,
and found him to be a very nice young man, if I could
just describe him like that. So I would imagine that he
is really going to be missed by his very large family and
friends. So I ask that condolences be sent on our be-half. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will associate the MP
from [constituency] 25.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to be associated
with the congratulations to Pembroke Hamilton Club as
they reside in my constituency on their back -to-back
winning of the league.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Good morning.
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Speaker, I would like to also
associate my remarks this morning with those of MP
Burgess in regard to the condolences for [the family of]
Mr. Gary Gibbons, “Uncle Boochie” out of Harlem Heights. I want to send my sincere condolences to his
family. I wa nted to share that the family, the boys in
particular and the girls, took good care of their father.
And he will be a miss because many of the other Harlem community members also looked out for Mr. Gib-bons as well. So he will be a huge miss to the Harlem
Heights community. So, condolences to the Gibbons
family.
I also wanted to acknowledge condolences to
[the family of] Ms. Marie Tucker. Ms. Marie Tucker, the
mother of Kim, Dr. Gina Tucker and some other
adopted family members. I would like to associate MP
Foggo and MP Diallo Rabain in regard to the condo-lences for [the family of] Ms. Marie Tucker. Ms. Marie
Tucker was also a stalwart in assisting and helping the
Progressive Labour Party as well in her involvement. I
believe she was also the constituent of our Premier. So
again, wanting to share condolences to th e family of
Ms. Tucker.
Wanting to send congratulatory remarks to
TROIKA performing arts. TROIKA Bermuda has been
invited to perform SARAFINA!, if you remember, the
play that they performed . . . where are you? Last year?

Yes.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Yes! Good! Last year they brought to our very own shores
the play of SARAFINA! They have been invited to perform at the esteemed International Black Theatre Fes-tival where they will be performing SARAFINA! at the
end of July and early part of August. And wanting to
send congratulatory remarks to TROIKA on their accomplishment. I know they will do Bermuda proud.
Also wanting to send congratulations to the
Greater Smith Hill Church of God. I had the opportunity
to attend the function that they had for seniors. It was
the “Seniors Tea before Three.” And they actually hon-oured three seniors in our community: Ms. Lis ter, who
is the mother of our very own Speaker, Dennis Lister;
as well as Ms. Thomas, who is the owner of Jamaican
Grill; and also Mrs. Young, who is the owner of Gwendolyn Adventure Nursery. So I just wanted to congratulate that team for the work that they have put on for our
seniors and the congratulatory remarks for our seniors.
Thank you.
[Timer chimes]

Thank you, Minister.
Mr. Opposition Leader, you have your three
minutes.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes, thank you. Thank you,
Mr. Speaker.
I would like to associate myself with the remarks given by Lt. Col. Burch relating to the passing of
Lt. Col. Darling.
I would also extend the condolences for [the
family of] Belvina May Barnes, former teacher and li-brarian at Bermuda Institute and daughter of the late
Horace and Mamie Gibbons of 7 Valley [Lane]. I remember running around the schoolyard at Bermuda Institute, really looking for marbles or trying to get onto
the basketball court as fast as I could. And she was always a firm but fair disciplinarian and very, very helpful
in the library. And so she will be missed. And for those
who do not know, she was also the beloved wife of the
late Johnny Barnes.
Mr. Speaker, I would also add a congratulatory
remark to Vision Bermuda and Bermuda Lion’s Club on
the completion of Beacon House. And I note that Min-ister Furbert . . . I would like to associate Minister
Furbert, who opened the event for them. It was incr edibly hard work over a number of years, and they have engineered a fantastic facility for the visually chal-lenged in Bermuda.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to send condolences to the family
of Gerald Wells. He was what I would consider to be
the foundation, the heart of Mill Reach Road. He had


Bermuda House of Assembly his homestead there. He first really caught my eye because he is the grandfather of Nahki Wells. So that was
sort of celebrity status in my eyes. But I always will remember Mr. Wells because he really cared for his
neighbourhood. And we first got into a re lationship trying to work out how best to navigate the small carriage
roads on Mill Reach. And he was most helpful with
Works and Engineering. He was generous with maybe
the possible use of some of his land in order for the
trash trucks to manoeuvre throug h the neighbourhood,
et cetera, which fortunately we found the solution without. But I just wanted to say that he really, really was a
voice and a heart of the neighbourhood. And he will be
sorely missed. Fortunately, I did have a chance to have
a chat wit h him recently. And he has just always been
a good, yet spirited individual. And he will certainly al-ways be remembered in our hearts.
Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would like
to be associated with the condolences to the Wells family. Certainly, my brother Darron and the Wells family
are very closely connected through Mr. Wells’s son and of course his grandson. I saw quite a bit of him because
he loves golf. I am hoping that when he ties up his football boots, he will come and be one of our outstanding
golf pros.
I would like to be associated with the condolences [for] Perry Smith and Malcolm Lowe, two young people whom I grew up with when I was a young person
in that greater White Hill, Death Valley, Whale Bay
community. May they both rest in peace.
I would like for congratulations to be sent to Ms.
Leona Thompson, celebrating 106 years, and Aunt
Betty whose birthday is today. And MP Foggo and MP
Ming, I am sure, would like to be associated with those.
And finally, Mr. Speaker, in with the congratulations to PAC and Devonshire Colts and Wolves that
were promoted, I cannot sit down without congratulating the fine efforts of Jarreau Hayward, St. George’s
Colts, and President [of St. George’s Cricket Club] Mishael Paynter’s receiving the FA Cup for the first time since Wellington Road won the FA Cup back in the
1950s. Let me tell you that the excitement that has
been generated in the St. George’s community is
something that has lifted up the whole community! And
now that we have the taste of red in our mouth from my cousins up at Village, we are looking West, Mr. Speaker, and looking West indeed —

And I just want to say
thank -you to them for lifting our spirits in St. George’s —
lifting our spirits in St. George’s. And we just cannot wait for Cup Match to roll around. The Cup Match team
has been practicing every night since we lifted the FA
Cup. And some of those same players will be playing
Cup Match, I am sure, with Jonte Smith and the others who were part of that celebration —

—But let me say this, Mr.
Speaker. Having been part of that motorcade, which brought back memories to the motorcades of Cup
Match, I cannot wait to see the start of the cricket season with the spirit that is permeating in island courts. All
St. Georgians t o join us this weekend as we celebrate
once again, as we celebrate through the summer leading up to Cup Match this summer, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much. And congratulations to
the mighty St. George’s Colts!

[Timer chimes]

So I would like to be associated
with the football success of our St. George’s football
team. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like for congratulations to
go to our one and only Sergeant -at-Arms [Arnold E. Allen, EM] with the martial arts events that he puts on for our young people. I would like to associate MP Lawrence Scott.

[Inaudible interjections]

I will associate the entire House.
Because as he tells his students and their families, martial arts is not just . . . I guess some would call it a sport.
1172 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly It is a way of life. And I can tell you that what it brings, I
will say specifically to my grandson and some of the
other young people who are studying under him. You
can see the change in their attitudes and in their spirit.
And it is one of positivity. S o I would like to thank him
for doing that.
And I would also like to just congratulate Mr.
Collington of St. David’s. He is the patriarch of St. David’s. He celebrated his 102nd birthday.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Good morning.

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, I would like to be
associated with the remarks that have been offered today for Mr. Cecil Durham and also for the remarks that
have been offered for the late Gerald Wells.
I would also like to, if I could please, Mr.
Speaker, associate myself with the condolences that
were given to the family of Ms. Marie Tucker, who, as
the Honourable Minister for Youth, Social Development and Seniors did state, was my constituent, a stalw art of
my particular constituency and someone who I believe nominated me for my first run for the House of Assem-bly back in 2012, and the family that is near and dear
to my heart. So I wish to send condolences certainly to
her son, Kim, and to her daughter , Dr. Gina Tucker.
Mr. Speaker, I am uncertain if it was done as I
was not able to listen all the way, but I would also, if not done, like to extend condolences to the family of the Rev. Canon Thomas Nisbett, who was without question
a trailblazer and the first Black Anglic an priest leading
a parish in Bermuda. I was able to attend his homegoing service at the cathedral, and it was certainly a great
turnout and a send- off for him, Mr. Speaker.
And then finally I would like to extend condolences and pay tribute to the late Mr. David Hughes, Mr. Speaker. And I will certainly associate the whole
House. He was without question a PLP stalwart whose
love for our Island and its people shaped his life and his
work. It was a wonderful homegoing service, Mr.
Speaker. I know that you were there with me. He remained a steadfast supporter of the Progressive Labour Party, but also a steadfast supporter of Bermuda’s
sovereignty and was never, ever afraid to speak his
mind and made sure that all of those of us in leadership
of the Progressive Labour Party did listen and pay attention.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution?
Any other?
There are none.
Just before we move on, let me just add a few
remarks to some. I would like to be associated with the
many remarks that have been given this morning. I will
start with Mr. Durham, to the family of Mr. Durham; to
the family of David Hughes; to the family of Lori Simons -Robinson; to the family of Mrs. Tucker; and to the
family of Perry Smith.
The real sad piece about the family of Perry
Smith is that they just buried his brother about four, three months ago I believe. And now having to do the
same thing over for another brother. So we can really
feel that loss.
And the condolences sent to Mrs. Barnes and
the family.
And the congratulatory remarks given to Mr.
Walter and Brenda Lister on their anniversary. Of
course I would like to be associated with that.
And the remarks of congratulations to the Sergeant -at-Arms on the martial arts tournament. I would
like to add to that, MP Foggo. The young fellow, the little fellow who got that big trophy that was almost bigger than him was my great -nephew. That is Terry ’s
grandson, my brother Terry’s grandson, young Quinton
won that huge trophy. And we tease him still that the trophy is practically almost the size he is, it was so
large.
And I would like to add to these remarks the
condolences to the family of the late Mrs. Victoria
Prime -Jackson. I have known Mrs. Jackson for so
many years it is hard to count how many years I have
known Mrs. Jackson. It goes back to my early teen
years. And I have been close to her family all of those
years. And I send special condolences to her daughter
Georgette, her granddaughter Brinae. And one thing
you knew about Mrs. Jackson, she always knew where she stood. We used to refer to her as a straight shooter.
She did not take much nonsense. And if she liked you,
she let you know she liked you. But she did not tolerate
much swaying- in-between, in a sense. She stood
where she stood, and we respected her for that. And I
know the impact that she has had in her family as well
as her church community. And her loss will surely be
felt by many in this community.
With those few remarks, we will now move on.

MATTERS OF PRIVILEGE

There are Bills that are going to be introduced on behalf of the Deputy, yes? Okay.

FIRST READING

REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS)
AMENDMENT ACT 2024

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the
following Bill for its first reading so that it may be placed
on the Order Paper for the next day of meeting, namely,
the Registration (Births and Deaths) Amendment Act
2024.

Thank you.
And Minister of National Security.

FIRST READINGS

CYBERSECURITY ACT 2024

COMPUTER MISUSE ACT 2024

Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the following
Bills for their first reading so that they may be placed on the Order Paper for the next day of meeting: the Cybersecurity Act 2024, and the Computer Misuse Act
2024.

Now, Members and the listening audience, that takes us to the Orders of the Day. The first
item on the Order this morning to be debated is the second reading of the Bermuda Health Council Amendment Act 2024 in the name of the Minister of Health.
Minister.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled the
Bermuda Health Council Amendment Act 2024 be now
read a second time.

No problem.

BILL

SECOND READING

BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL
AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speaker and Honourable
Members, I stand before you to introduce the Bill entitled the Bermuda Health Council Amendment Act 2024.
Hereinafter I will refer to that as “the Bill.” One of the
principal objectives of the Bill is to allow for the collection of data necessary for improving health care outcomes and ensuring equitable access to services.
Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda Health Council Act
2004 (the Act) gives the Bermuda Health Council (and I will refer to them as “the Council”) authority to ensure
the provision of essential health services and to promote and maintain the good health of the resid ents of
Bermuda. And this is pursuant to section 15(1)(a). Section 7 of the Act also provides [that] the Minister, “after
consultation with the Council, may give general direc-tions as to the policy to be followed by the Council in
the performance of its functions as appear to the Minister to be necessary in the public interest. And the Council shall give effect to any such directions.”
Mr. Speaker, the Government relies on the
Council in fulfilling its purposes to regulate, coordinate
and enhance the delivery of health services in Bermuda
to make evidence- based recommendations. However,
the Council does not have all of the legislative authority
required to fulfil its role. Health system transformation
and the implementation of universal health coverage
1174 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly specifically requires an expansion of the functions of
the Council.
Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda Health Council
Amendment Act 2024 will give effect to the Council’s
authority to ensure the provision of essential health ser-vices and to promote and maintain the good health of
the residents of Bermuda by establishing that the Minister may direct the Council to collect certain data from
health service providers, licensed insurers and approved schemes, and require the provision of such
data. Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda Health Council Amendment Act 2024 makes provisions to govern this
collection of data and information by the Health Council.
Mr. Speaker, the 2023 Throne Speech proposed legislation “to support data collection to control
medical ‘co -pays’”. This follows a 2022 Throne Speech
initiative to understand the drivers of medical co- payments. More correctly the term is “ patient -responsible
portion, ” or “balance billing.” We all know it as co-pay,
but the technical term referred to, Mr. Speaker, is “ patient-responsible portion” or “balance billing. ” Mr.
Speaker, although not stated in the Throne Speech, the
initiative is focused on the vulnerable populations only.
And the Government is committed to controlling the pa-tient-responsible portion, or the co- pays, of those members of our community who are vulnerable.
Mr. Speaker, the patient -responsible portion of
health care service fees represents the delta between
the fee, or the price that is set and charged by the provider, and the portion that is covered by the patient’s health insurance policy. For many, Mr. Sp eaker, there
is a lack of clarity with respect to both the provider’s charge and the level of insurance coverage. And the result is an uncertainty that can lead to patients’ avoiding treatment due to the actual or anticipated out -ofpocket expenses.
Mr. Speaker, the Council currently lacks the required data and information needed to assess the fac-tors determining the payment and thereafter making
appropriate recommendations. Targeted data collection from health service providers is a necessary first
step, Mr. Speaker, to reveal the drivers of health care
costs for providers which contribute to the fees, or the
prices set by those health service providers. Similarly,
targeted data collection from health insurers and approved schemes would also assist in understanding the
reimbursement decisions for insurers. And from there,
a strategy and action plan for government intervention
that is specific and progressive can be sought.
Mr. Speaker, a stakeholder engagement session on the 28
th of November 2023 focused on the collection of data to inform the drivers of co- payment. And
coming out of that session it is acknowledged that the
correct term to use is not “co- pay,” but rather “balance
billing” or “the patient responsible portion.”
So, Mr. Speaker, while the Throne Speech initiative is specific to the patient -responsible portion of
the health service provider’s fees, there are additional areas of the health sector where the Council requires the ability to collect necessary data. For example, Mr.
Speaker, the collection of data regarding diagnostic order rates would support the Council’s efforts to identify
any over -utilisation of health services. While anecdotal
evidence suggests that there is an over -supply, an
overuse of some healt h services on the Island, possibly
driven by financially invested referrals and self -referrals
which contribute to increased health costs, the actual
data to inform policy decisions around this are not currently available. And monitoring diagnostic ordering rates through legislation will better enable clinically appropriate testing and imaging without impeding patient
access to necessary and appropriate care.
Mr. Speaker, section 5 of the Act lays out the
Council’s functions. The amendments through the Bill
clarify and confirm the functions of the Council as the entity responsible for collecting and evaluating information in aggregate and anonymising forms to support
objective decision- making with respect to population
health, health care service delivery, and health care costs and payments. The Council’s data collection is
directed by the Minister pursuant to section 7 to ensure
that data collection is targeted and authorised, and to
avoid a data sweep.
Mr. Speaker, though the ministerial direction is
provided for in the amendment, it is subject to an over-arching goal of supporting objective decision- making in
health care. The Minister’s role is to ensure that necessary information is collected to facilit ate evidencebased policy formulation rather than as the ultimate objective.
Mr. Speaker, you have heard me speak about
you can’t manage what you can’t measure. And this ties
directly into the issue of data collection. You need to
know what you need to manage before . . . you need
the measurements first before you can actually apply
initiatives and manage.
Mr. Speaker, a justification that is grounded in
evidence will be required to progress each new data
collection. It will be up to the health Council to do the
legwork of research to propose a plan for new data to
be collected. For example, Mr. Speaker, if we wanted
to know the breakdown by race of those insured by public or private payer to better understand our health disparities, there must be accompanying research that
already links race to disparities in access to care that is
being used to ground the effort. The Minister may also
delegate the review process if appropriate. Further-more, Mr. Speaker, the ministerial direction will be
guided by the overarching goal of supporting evidencebased decision- making in health care.
The Minister will work closely with the Council
to make sure that directives are targeted and aligned
with the Council’s mandate. Additionally, there are provisions for transparency and accountability in the direc-tion process including the ability to chall enge directives
through appropriate channels if necessary.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, accountability and transparency
are fundamental principles guiding the Council’s operation. The amendment reinforces this by clearly defining the Council’s responsibilities and the purposes for
which the data will be collected. Additionally, the Coun-cil will engage in regular reporting to stakeholders and
the public, providing updates on its activities and the
use of the collective data. Feedback mechanisms such
as public consultations and stakeholder forms will be
established to ensure that diverse perspectives are
considered in decision- making. And this commitment to
openness and responsiveness will help maintain trust
in the Council’s actions and decisions.
Mr. Speaker, turning now to international best
practice regarding the data collection and security. Mr.
Speaker, this amendment aligns with international best
practice in health care data collection and analysis. The Council has conducted thorough researc h on international best practices in health care data collection and
analysis to inform the development of this amendment.
Lessons learned from other jurisdictions including suc-cessful approaches to data anonymisation, secure
data- sharing protocols and eff ective utilisation of health
care data for policy decision- making have been incorporated into the amendment provided.
Mr. Speaker, by drawing on global experience
and expertise, the Council aims to implement worldclass standards for health care data governance and utilisation in Bermuda. In keeping with international
best practices, Mr. Speaker, the amendment outlines
the types of information required including data related
to health care service delivery, utilisation, cost, and
payment for health products and services. And this information will support objective decision- making particularly in the context of implementing universal health
coverage. Mr. Speaker, the Council will operate with transparency and accountability, ensuring that data are used solely for their purposes and that decision- making
processes are subject to appropriate oversight.
Mr. Speaker, with respect to the specific
measures that will be put in place to ensure the security and integrity of the data collection by the Council. Since
data security is a top priority, the Council will implement
stringent protocols to safeguard inf ormation. This includes encryption measures, access control and regular audits to ensure compliance with data protection
standards. Anonymisation techniques will be carefully
vetted to minimise the risk of re- identification, and the
Council will stay abreast of advancements in data pri-vacy technology to continually strengthen its processes and practices.
Mr. Speaker, data security also involves patient privacy matters surrounding the data collected. Patient privacy is of utmost importance, and this
amendment includes provision for anonymising patient
names and other identifying information. This ensures that while necessary data are collected for objective decision -making, individual privacy is respected. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the Council will adhere to
strict data protection protocols to safeguard patient information.
Mr. Speaker, the natural question some might
ask is, How does the data collection initiative outlined
in this legislation before us contribute to universal
health coverage? And will improved data help the
health system save money? And the answer is yes, Mr.
Speaker. The data collection initiative is integral to advancing universal health coverage by providing the
necessary evidence base to inform policy decisions aimed at expanding access to essential health care
services for all residents of Bermuda.
Again, Mr. Speaker, we cannot manage what
we cannot measure. By systematically collecting data
on health care service delivery, utilisation, cost and
payment mechanisms, the Health Council can identify gaps in coverage, assess the effectiveness of existing
health care programmes and tailor interventions to address specific needs within our population. And this targeted approach to decision- making enables policymakers to design and implement initiatives that promote eq-uitable access to health care services, which is a key
tenet of universal health coverage.
Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, improved data
quality and analysis capabilities can lead to more efficient and effective research allocations and cost -saving
measures within the health system. By identifying areas of inefficiency, redundancy or over -utilisation , policymakers can implement targeted interventions to optimise health care delivery and reduce unnecessary
costs. For example, better data on health care utilisation patterns can help to identify opportunities for pre-ventative care interventions or interv entions to reduce
hospital re- admissions, ultimately leading to cost -savings from the overall health system. In addition, Mr. Speaker, leveraging improved data to inform decisionmaking processes has the potential to make the health
system more financially stable and sustainable while
advancing at the same time the overarching goal of universal health coverage.
Mr. Speaker, turning now to what may be of a
concern to licensed health service providers, insurers
and schemes regarding what may be seen as an additional administrative burden as it relates to the collec-tion of these data. And this is especially as it r elates to
smaller providers in particular. And how will they be
able to cope with the costs and the resources that are
required to comply with this legislation with respect to the provision of data?
Mr. Speaker, while it is understandable to be
concerned about administrative burdens, the amendment emphasises the importance of streamlined reporting and data collection. The Council will work with
stakeholders to develop efficient mechanisms for submitting information, minimising the burden on providers, insurers and schemes. And additionally, Mr.
Speaker, the benefits of having access to comprehensive data for decision- making such as improving health
1176 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly care delivery and ensuring equitable access to services
outweighs the initial investment in compliance.
Mr. Speaker, the Council recognises the potential impact on health care providers and is committed to
minimising any undue burdens. Technical assistance and support will be provided to help providers navigate
the data collection process, including guidanc e on data
anonymisation and reporting requirements. In addition,
Mr. Speaker, the Council will engage in ongoing dialogue with stakeholders to address concerns and
streamline compliance procedures where possible.
Mr. Speaker, public awareness and engagement are an integral part of the success of the data collection initiative. The Council will launch targeted public
education campaigns to inform residents about the importance of data collection for improving healt h care
outcomes and ensuring equitable access to services.
Additionally, opportunities for public consultation and
feedback will be provided to solicit input on data collection priorities and address any concerns or misconceptions. And this proactive approach to engagement will help build trust and transparency in the data collection
process.
Mr. Speaker, these amendments would be futile without ensuring that the Council had the ability to
enforce them. Therefore, failure of a health service provider, insurer or an approved scheme to provide the information or data requested by the Council is an of-fence and could result in a fine of $20,000, or imprisonment or both.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at the legislation at it
currently stands there are a number of provisions under
the Health Council Act that have such a provision, that
is, both a fine and/or imprisonment. Mr. Speaker, the importance of this is that it serves as a strong deterrent
and ensures that providers, insurers and schemes un-derstand the importance of fulfilling their obligation. Again, this is the obligation to produce data, Mr.
Speaker. Additionally, the Council will work closely with
stakeholders to strea mline the reporting processes and
address any concerns that they may have.
Mr. Speaker, please allow me to end where I
started. This Bill before Members today seeks to pro-vide for the collection of data which is necessary for im-proving health care outcomes and ensuring equitable
access to the services of all, for all of our Bermuda residents. Mr. Speaker, this represents the full amendments being proposed. And with these remarks, I am
pleased to introduce this Bill and look forward to a
wholesome debate.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Here we go. This is my first debate on health,
so I will do my best. So the one thing I could definitely
get out of this is that the data collection that we are
speaking about today —for the listening audience— is
not about individual patient information. T his is not
about clinical data. Your privacy will definitely be maintained. This is not about that. So that is very clear, and
I want to lay that foundation.
I just need to backtrack a little. And I am going
to get to the co- pay because I do believe that the bottom line of this amendment is all about the money. But
I would like to see if I can at least break down what is
going on with data collection in the health in Bermuda.
This piece of legislation is pretty darn strong- armed; almost excessive. And I believe it is because the Govern-ment is behind the eight ball. And they need to get this
information quickly because things are not as they seem. So, as the Health Council realises that we are in
a stage in our development, especially when it comes
to universal health care, we have to get up to scratch
and we have to get some kind of control over this situation because of things that have broken down in the
meant ime.
So if I step back a minute when it comes to data
collection, I have been reading some of the health matters, the different strategies and strategic needs assessments, et cetera. And the bulk of the data that I am seeing published under this Administration in 2023,
2024 is data that are all the way back to 2016. Now,
that was under the OBA Administration, and we certainly were not going through the kind of turmoil in
health as we are now. And I do acknowledge the fact
that some of that data were because of a timely census
that happened to have been under our Administration,
and we fulfilled that obligation and we provided the
data.
But here we are in 2023/24, and we are still
looking at 2016 data and publishing it in 2023. Things
have changed. Lots of things have changed. And in
particular in the health industry things have changed.
So I understand that the evolution of data collecti on
needs to be done. And I am not sure that the Administration, the Government Administration was aware of
just how out of sync we happen to be. So there is a
need for us to go back and catch up.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the kind of data and the kind
of health services that the local population requires has
become more complicated. And I am going to use
something like diabetes. So health service providers, maybe insurers, some of them have been reporting and
submitting data as “diabetes.” I would suspect much of
it has been type 1 diabetes, which is something that you
have at birth. It is hereditary. It is an established diagnosis. But type 2 diabetes in Bermuda has not necessarily been classified as that. And so you get a patient
. . . and let us match the data.
So Bermuda gets all of this sort of just raw
data—obesity numbers in Bermuda, chronic kidney disease numbers in Bermuda. They have that kind of data.


Bermuda House of Assembly But we do not know where that is coming from or how
it all works in the scheme of things. So if Bermuda
moves into the 21st century here and starts looking at
data around complex conditions, we can see that there may be a number of different ailments and illnesses that are falling under one particular category.
So I will stick with type 2 diabetes. Somebody
may be obese and they may have some chronic kidney disease. They may even have some heart failure.
There may also be some blood circulation and amputation involved. There can be quite a list of ailments. But n one, or maybe very few, of the health service providers are actually classifying all of those illnesses and saying, This is type 2 diabetes. And it would help us as
we (1) have to meet international standards, as the
Minister stated; also (2) even just for us here in Bermuda to try and create a clear care pathway, we need to know the whole story around the patient. And so I
can understand the sort of pivot to a more sophisticated
or more complex and comprehensive form of data collection.
And with that, it is needed. Again, it seems to
me that it is quite late. I mean, we have been talking . . .
or, excuse me, the PLP Administration has been talking
about universal health care all the way back to when MP De Silva was Minister, and that was, what, 2010?
And we are still trying to figure out universal health care. And what is worse is that we are just now getting to the point where, Oh my goodness, we need all of
these data! So it is just not making me feel particularly
comfortable that we are actually going to get where we
need to go, because I believe that there are a couple of
consequences that have arisen that are, as the saying
goes, Cut off your nose to spite your face.
So the Health Council has decided, and rightly
so, that what they would like to do is really have a new
process that would include a real justification for the
need for these data, that the data that are needed will
be collated and used usefully. And then we will have a
ministerial sign -off, and off we go. But there is one concern: Is this going to be reciprocated? If a health service provider or an insurer wants to get some data from the
Bermuda Health Council, will the Health Council assist
in providing t hose data to those providers? (Question.)
The Bermuda Health Council has legislated
that if providers do not provide the data they could be
fined up to $20,000 and put in prison. So what about the single general practitioner, the medical doctor who,
as the Minister had referenced, is going to be p ut in the
position where they may have to find the resources to
do this research and collect these data, that they may
have to invest in some new form of technological platform/software in order to provide this? And yes, okay,
the Minister said that the Bermuda Health Council will
be willing to help. But some of this may just be overwhelming.
I am just not absolutely confident that this kind
of pressure put on people who are in the care services
. . . they are caring for our people and we are putting this kind of pressure on them. It just seems to me to be
a bit hard- handed. And I just do not understand why
there is not more collaboration, why there is not a build-ing of relationships. This has been going on for over a
decade, Mr. Speaker. And I just do not understand why
we are being so heavy -handed in this regard. Unless of
course it is about t he money.
Now, there is another elephant in the room, Mr.
Speaker, and that is the Bermuda hospital. The PLP
Government decided (back in, what, 2018?) five
minutes after they got into power that they were going to change the Bermuda hospital’s billing and financial
situation by providing a block grant.

The relevance (as the interpolations from the audience) is that the hospital in the past
would prepare financial statements. They would prepare financial billing. And in that billing they would list
the various procedures, et cetera, whatever the medi-cal history was of that particular patient while they were
in the hospital. And when they shared that, it would become data which these health service providers and
the insurers, et cetera, could use as a way of collecting
the data, having the data from the hospital.
But with this new block grant under the PLP
Administration, there is no billing. Nobody knows what is going on in the hospital. Nobody! So, Mr. Speaker, I
guess what they have got to do now is put it into law,
pull out the ruler, slap some knuckles, put in prison, fine
$20,000 —unless the Bermuda hospital figures out a
way to provide the data. And my point, Mr. Speaker, is that this is the consequence. This is the consequence
of the financial model that was put into place. And now
we have to run around and f igure out how to have a
relationship with the hospital in order to provide the services and the data that are needed in order for us to
come up with a universal health care platform.
So, I have a few questions, Mr. Speaker. Why
do we have $2 million budgeted for a Project Management Office for universal health care? And now we
have got the Bermuda Health Council as the central-ised repository of all of these data and providing all of
the instructions and development for universal health
care. It seems to me a duplicate of expenses. How are
the Bermuda hospital, the health service providers, and
in some cases insurers, going to actually get these data
to the Bermuda Health Council? And how is the Health
Council going to reciprocate and give back? We know our systems are compromised. We know that our systems in some cases are dated. Or they are basic because there is not the money in the Bermuda hospital
example to buy the features that are needed for proper
data collection and sharing of data. There is no money.
And then on the other side of it, Mr. Speaker,
what about the charities? What about all of the donated
services that are out there? What about the systems
that they are going to need to provide data to the
1178 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Bermuda Health Council? Who is helping them there?
And who has even asked? They are not even in the
legislation, thank goodness. Goodness gracious —
$20,000 and a year in prison! But we have to consider the fact that there are many, many charities in Bermuda
that have the data or they have the population of people. They have the information. They built the relationships and probably have a very good contribution to
make to the Bermuda Health Council with regard to
data. And we are absolutely not even including them.
Where are they in this legislation? Where are they in the Minister’s introduction to this legislation?
Insurers. It’s like they are the big bad guys out
there. Well, you know what? The insurers have been providing data for a long time. They seem to be open
about it. But you know what? It is really, really difficult
for them to figure out where to go in the future with it
because they do not have data. They are not getting
data from the Bermuda hospital anymore because
there is a block grant and no more billing coming out of
the Bermuda hospital. So they do not have any data on that. They are not receiving data on anybody at this
point, I would imagine. And it is very, very difficult for
them to be able to figure any of this out.
So it sounds to me like we are very, very close
to the edge of a cliff of confusion and fragmentation.
And I am really concerned about it because I do believe
that universal health care is a workable solution for Ber-muda. Heavens! There are jurisdictions and other islands that were able to introduce and have successfully
running universal health care years before us. What have we done wrong? Was it all about the money, Mr.
Speaker? Was it really all about the money?
And my concern is that the collection of the
data . . . And I am going to be honest with you. A lot of
what was in the introduction to this Bill I would need to
really sit down and process. And fair enough if it takes me a little longer.

[Inaudible interjections]

But I will tell you one thing, Mr.
Speaker. I will tell you one thing. It is all about the money. And what I am afraid of is that it is going to be the person in the front line, who is the health service
provider, who is going to get hit the worst. They are going to end up with a take- home pay that is minimal compared to what is going on.
Now, Mr. Speaker —

[Inaudible interjections]

Patients who come into the
system are not receiving the services they deserve.
And so with all of what has been said, what is this legislation ultimately trying to solve? There are people
in beds, in chairs, victims in pain and discomfort lining
up the hallways of the Bermuda hospital. And what is
this problem? What is this data collection legislation doing to solve that problem? We have got people who are literally in pain and discomfort because they have been
waiting months and month s and months for surgeries
at the hospital only to be told the day before their surgery that there is no anaesthesia.
Mr. Speaker, how on earth are we going to find
a clear pathway to health care in Bermuda on a univer-sal health care platform when we still do not even have
the data to support it or to understand what the health
needs are in our community? And it concerns me, Mr.
Speaker. People are giving up on healthy living. They cannot afford it! They know that co- pays are high. My
concern is we introduce universal health care, and then
all of a sudden we do not have any benefits anymore
because all we can basically af ford with that is basic
health care.
And they do not even have —“they” being all of
those out there who are living with illnesses right now.
There are no health services in the East End. There are
no health services in the West End, no clinics.

[Inaudible interjections]

How do we even have a community that can live healthy when we do not even have
the basic infrastructure in place? And we are spending
our time talking about how we are going to punish people if they do not provide data. It makes no sense to
me, Mr. Speaker.
So my bottom line is, whether this is about the
money or whether this is about the data, I do not see
this addressing any of the major, major concerns that
we have in the health care industry in Bermuda and
how it is affecting the healthy living of the people who
are doing their best to access health care in Bermuda,
which, yes, it is becoming absolutely uneconomical
[and] difficult for people to pay co- pays. We have got to
change that.
And universal health care is a good option. But,
Mr. Speaker, I am really concerned that our priorities
right now are in the wrong place. We are behind the eight ball, and we have got to figure this out.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Go right ahead, Minister.
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I just want to rein this debate in, because we
are talking about legislation. And as legislators and


Bermuda House of Assembly policymakers, we are here today to debate the benefits
to have access to information, access to data, access
to statistics. If you are going to tell me that we are
wrong for collecting, wanting to collect and legislate getting this information, something is wrong, Mr. Speaker.
Jurisdictions all over the world, Mr. Speaker —

The Minister is misleading the
House.
No one ever talked about how we do not think
[it is important that] these data are needed. Never said
that.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Speaker, we just heard how
our priorities are in the wrong place. It is a priority of
this Government, Mr. Speaker, that we collect data and
statistics for our people. It is not unusual, as the Minister of Health already explained that it is standard prac-tice in other jurisdictions to collect such data. And actually, Mr. Speaker, if you went online right now and you
did a search, a website search in regard to data as they relate to prices in health care industries, you will find
them. But why in Bermuda must it be a secret? Actually, Mr. Speaker, I got a phone call this morning. This morn-ing someone called me. And they said, Minister, you
know, I had this health care bill. And usually I have this charity that covers my co- pay. I never knew how much
the actual bill was until the charity told me that they can no longer cover it.
Is it right, Mr. Speaker, that you can go into a
store and you can publicly see displayed prices, or you can go online and shop and you can publicly see displayed prices, but in our very own health care system,
we have to go in blindly, not knowing what pr ices are?
It is wrong, Mr. Speaker. Until you ask. There are a lot
of people who go to their health care professionals and
they just go because they need the health and the ser-vices. They do not even ask the price, because we
have a health care system with insurance that covers a
percentage of the cost. But it is not until it becomes a
burden or they have to go, or it becomes a crisis where
people want to find out what the actual cost is, right?
All we are doing, Mr. Speaker, if any good business is out there, any good business that has good business practices, they would already have their pricing in place. It should not be any extra work. And just to educate this House, Mr. Speaker, we are talking
about charities. Charities are mandated through the
Charities Act to submit their financials.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Tinee Furbert: No, but we are educating this
House as legislators what is already out there.
Also, as far as Bermuda Health Council, as legislators we should know . . . sorry, the Bermuda Hospitals Board. The Bermuda Hospitals Board has legislation in regard to what their prices are.
Mr. Speaker, one thing we are all . . . we share
a commonality in this room. And we at some point in our lives will all be health care patients. Please do not
tell me you do not want to know what you are paying
for health care.
Actually, Mr. Speaker, we just had a series of
town halls for the National Seniors Strategy. The number-one thing that comes up—number one! —for our
seniors is the cost of health care. It is the cost of health care. So we are making it a priority, and we ar e making
it a governmental responsibility under the Bermuda
Health Council to make sure that we are able to collect
data, statistics and information as it relates to health
care costs in Bermuda.
And some may say, Oh well, it’s a hefty fine.
This Government takes health care seriously. And if people are not willing to give over the information in a
timely manner, they have to know what the repercussions are. So get it in. And as a health care professional
myself, Mr. Speaker, I would be compli ant, comply. Our
people, we, as patients have the right to have access
to services in which we know what the costs are.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, MP
Susan Jackson, has spoken to the substance of the Bill.
And I do not propose to add to those perceptive and
heartfelt remarks.
Let me be clear: the Opposition accepts that
health data collection is necessary and accepts that health data collection should be encouraged. And when
Minister Kim Wilson said, “You cannot manage what
you cannot measure,” we would say that we agree. But
what should happen, Mr. Speaker, when someone does not provide health data? What should happen?
How is the Government to respond to the non- provision
of information? The Opposition believes it is wrong to
incarcerate people for the failure to provide healt h data.
1180 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly It is wrong to incarcerate people for the failure to provide health data.
Mr. Speaker, civil penalties such as fines exist
to punish breaches of the civil law, breaches that happen every day throughout our community. In sharp con-trast, criminal penalties such as imprisonment exist to
punish breaches of the criminal law. Mr. Speaker, there
has been a dangerous trend by this Government to add
imprisonment as a penalty to matters that are not and
not remotely criminal in nature.
Let me give you some recent examples, Mr.
Speaker. We had the Invasive Alien Species Act 2021.
That imposed up to two years in jail if you have the
wrong type of plant in your garden. Two years in jail for
the wrong type of plant! We had the Financial Assi stance (No. 2) Act in 2023. And that provided that where an applicant for financial assistance used insulting lan-guage, that applicant could face up to six months in jail.
Someone seeking financial assistance, who is frustrated and anxious and uses insulti ng language can go
to jail. Really? Jail? Criminal sanctions are appropriate
for crimes . Putting Bermudian workers in jail —in jail —
for noncriminal matters i s a very, very dangerous precedent.
I hope, we hope that those in this Chamber will
support the amendment that we propose today to remove “imprisonment” as a sanction in the amendment.
Let me additionally talk to who might be put in
jail. Because in our view, this Bill is overly broad in its
scope. The preamble of the Bill provides that this can
apply to licensed health service providers, licensed in-surers and further, Mr. Speaker, and importantly, to approved schemes. Now, there is no definition in this Act
as to what an “approved scheme” means, nor is there a definition in the original principal Act of 2004 that is
being amended as to what an “approved scheme” means. And I hope that th e Minister will clarify in response what an approved scheme means, because if
it happens to be specific to approved schemes that are
overseas for specific international businesses and
banks and insurance companies, et cetera, that is
pretty, pretty thin ic e. So it is a bit vague, not defined
what it can apply to if these people can be put in prison.
And let us remind ourselves, Mr. Speaker, that
is any worker in that sector, any worker in those sectors. Mr. Speaker, to put it simply, fining a corporate
entity is one thing; putting individual workers in jail is
simply wrong.
Now, the Minister when she spoke to this specific point described the sanctions in this amending Act as “an additional administrative burden” (quote/unquote). An additional administrative burden. Well, with
respect, that slightly understates the seriousnes s of
what the Government is doing here. And with the greatest of respect to the learned Minister, what it is actually
doing is threatening imprisonment to those who do not provide health data. And that is not appropriate. It is
draconian. It is extreme. An d it is unfair.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member?
MP Simmons -Wade, you have the floor.

Good morning, Mr.
Speaker.
First of all I would like to applaud the Minister
for presenting this legislation for the collection of data by the Bermuda Health Council. I am sure most of us
are patiently waiting for health care reform to come into
this country. I understand . . . I guess I am say ing I am
trying to understand why [Honourable Member] Jackson was a bit confused with the information. There is a
lot of information that is being presented. And I think it
is important to read and understand the information before we go on a path of criti cising what we are doing for
the collection of data. It is important to make evidence -
based decisions. No country moves forward without
having the relevant data to determine which direction
we are going in.
We all need equitable access to health care in
this country. One of the things that was talked about
was co -pays. Yes, the Minister is correct. We have individuals who make decisions of not going to the doctor because they do not have the co- pay. But I th ink what
is more important in terms of understanding the cost of health care [is] how many, including people in this room . . . when they go to the doctor or any other service, the
only thing they are concerned about is, What is my co -
pay? How many people actually ask, What does this
service cost? We just think about the co- pay. I am guilty
of that as well.
The whole purpose of this is to improve access
to health care for everyone in this country. So in relation
to what [Honourable Member] Jackson said, yes it is
about the money. But more important it is about the access to health care for everyone in this c ountry. But the
cost of health care is skyrocketing in this country. And
it is only going to be the very wealthy, if we do not have
health care reform, who have access to health care.
And I do declare my interest. I am on the Bermuda Hospitals Board. So preventative health care will
make a difference in terms of access to get into that
hospital or the need to go in the hospital. So what happens [is that] you have people who go in the hospital because they do not take the time and attention to take
care of themselves. Sometimes it is health decisions,
sometimes it is exercise, sometimes it is food, et cetera.
But we do not take the time very often to look out for ourselves and take care of ourselves. So there is a personal responsibility for everyone to look out for and take
care of their health here.
As a country, I think everybody knows and
acknowledges the need for health care reform. I think
even though there is some concern about compliance,
I think everyone is committed, including medical professionals [and] the general public to participate and to
comply with the collection of data. Yes, there will be
some issues. But I do not believe that as a country we


Bermuda House of Assembly are not committed to getting access to health care, that
we are not committed to reducing the cost of health
care. Every year we look; our insurance policy is going
up every single year. When you talk about the co- pays,
when you talk about the cost of heal th care, everyone
in this country should be concerned about what it costs
to have access to health care.
When you stop and look at the individuals who
have to go overseas to get health care and you realise,
yes, you have to go to the LCCA [ Life Care Centers of
America], everyone does not have the difference in the
money for health care. Someone made a comment to
me that s ome people are going to die because they do
not have the proper access to health care. This should
never, ever be the case in any country, and it should
never be the case in this country. So the importance of data collection, you cannot undermine [enough] the im-portance of data collection . . . underscore (I am sorry)
the importance of data collection. I real ly do not think
that this legislation that allows the Bermuda Health Counc il to collect data will have individuals concerned
about how they are going to provide the data. We as a
country need to include access to health care for everyone in Bermuda, not just the individuals who can afford it.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage everyone who is listening to go to any public education that is provided by the Bermuda Health Council to know what is the im-portance of the data and how we make decisions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Good morning, Mr.
Speaker. We are on the cusp of the afternoon, but good
morning, Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues and those in the listening audience.
Mr. Speaker, I came into the House this morning with an idea to give some comments. And then I said, Well, the Minister’s brief was actually so comprehensive there is no need for me to say anything. Then of course we get a comment from MP Jackson. And you
know what I did, Mr. Speaker? I typed in my little computer here and said, What in the world is the definition of “bogeyman”?

[Laughter]

Mr. Speaker, clearly we are
not children. But the intent or the emphasis . . . And, MP Cannonier, you are right. Basically what she is say-ing is, We should be afraid!
But guess what, Mr. Speaker? The other thing
I looked at is, what happens when you cry wolf? Mr.
Speaker, I want to really ask the Opposition to step away from this narrative whereby every time they
speak, the world is falling apart. That is not true. And I
believe, Mr. Speaker, it is irresponsible for us to give
that indication.
Mr. Speaker, I will also go back a bit and declare my interest because I was actually first CEO of the Health Council, and currently I serve as the Deputy
Chair of the Health Council. And so for today I want to
speak to the general public.
What this legislation is doing is very, very simple and fundamental. It is putting in place the appropriate legislation and authority for the Health Council to gather data to then make good decisions. How could
that be wrong? How could that possibly be wr ong if the
system needs better data to make decisions?
MP Jackson started off as they say on a good
line in that she emphasised that the data that are going
to be collected are not individualised. And so based on
what is being collected, no one is going to know that
Anthony had to go to the doctor five times last week
because of X, Y, Z. So that probably was, with respect
(as the former Member said, with the utmost respect), the only thing that she might have said that might have
been valid. So, Mr. Speaker, the other thing I want to
say real quick (and I will make some other comments
in a minute) is that at the moment there is a fine and
possible imprisonment if I drive too fast. And so, Mr.
Speaker, the idea is that the fine and imprisonment are actually optional. So it is not as if I am going to get fined
or I am going to get imprisoned if I do not follow the law.
And so in this instance, Mr. Speaker, we have
to come back to basics. And again I will emphasise the fact that I am the Deputy Chair of the Health Council.
And so, Mr. Speaker, the Health Council is fully aware
of the implications and the concerns that wil l arise from
data that are being gathered. The Health Council, Mr. Speaker, is aware of the implications of PIPA [Personal
Information Protection Act], the privacy information that
we have to be mindful of. So they will put in place guidelines to ensure that the data that are being gathered are in fact not in contradiction to the PIPA legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I will also go back to say that the
initial formulation of the Health Council was very, very interesting to me, because persons who are appointed based upon their inherent bias, in that you will have
doctors, you would have paediatricians and you would
have others, you have specific pharmacists who have
specific interests . . . and the idea was that collectively
they would make good decisions. So the Health Council now has a different configuration, but they are very,
very mindful of the need t o ensure that the health community is on board with what is being required. And so for the Opposition to talk about the fact that there is no
collaboration, that is in fact factually not correct.
1182 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly What has happened is there has been significant consultation with those who are going to be impacted by this new legislation. Mr. Speaker, I will let
everyone know that I asked that particular question:
What will happen if there is a small health care provider who initially cannot provide the data? The response is
that the Health Council itself is of course responsible.
And the idea —if you are a health care provider and you
have to provide the data— is to be proactive and contact the Health Council, and they will work with [you] to
figure out a solution. They recognise that not everyone
is going to be able to be initially able to comply with the
data.
We all recognise, Mr. Speaker, that some of
our health care providers are more advanced than others. Some are very manual, some are very data- centric
and some are actually very, very electronic. So there
are going to be different opportunities or abilities for
persons to respond. But that will be taken into consideration as the Health Council does now, Mr. Speaker .
And one of the contradictions that the Member
spoke about is the fact that . . . she asked the question
actually in that, Can you get data from the Health Council? And then she said that she actually checks on data
that are being provided. So the answer i s yes. The
Health Council does provide information to the public.
Will it provide it to individuals? The answer is no, because that would be definitely a conflict. But the infor-mation is there. So this information will actually help the
Health Council to provide better data back to the public.
So this again fundamentally has to be supported. To those in the general public, clearly we want
to have better information around the health care provision in Bermuda. There is the commentary in terms of . . . and the Minister clarified the correct langu age. We
refer to it as the co -pay as opposed to the patient contribution, effectively. But it is definitely true that many of
us, if not most of us, if not all of us actually do not care
about the full cost at this stage. We want to know, What
do I have to pay? And that is of course only part of the
challenge, if you will, because sometimes there is a
much greater portion to pay. And I know,
for example if I go to a physio, I may pay $35. The full cost might be (I do not know) $400. And if Anthony does not appreciate the full cost of the care, he is more likely
to abuse it. So clearly, if my back happens to be hurting
at a point in time, I am going to go every single day if I
think it is an inexpensive thing to do. However, if I realise that the cost is act ually more than just what I pay, I
will be more careful, and I think everyone would be
more careful as to how they enter into the health care
system.
So, Mr. Speaker, I will go back to say that the
fundamental premise of the legislation is to gather data. Data are always important to make good decisions.
And so I will be very surprised if anybody fundamentally opposes what is being proposed today. And I will go
back to this idea of, Wow, $20,000 is a fine? And going
to prison? Yes! But guess what? You do not have to incur either the fine or the imprisonment if you comply. And as I have said before, the Health Council is very
proactive and will understand that there may be some
limitations to persons who can respond. And they will
work with them.
So again my comment to the smaller businesses is to be prepared and to be proactive.
Mr. Speaker, I will also say that we as legislators have to continue to be responsible in our advocacy of laws and regulations as they are proposed and implemented, because the public in many cases will of course take our lead. So I will say this before I sit down,
Mr. Speaker . . . Well, there are two things, actually.
One of the previous speakers talked about the idea that we, the PLP, have put in place legislation that seems to
invoke, on a regular basis, prison sentences. And I
think I am correct, Mr. Speaker, if I refer back to PATI
in terms of there is an imprisonment component if you
do not comply. And I will say also, Mr. Speaker, that it
would not have been introduced by the PLP Government. So sometimes what happens, Mr. Speaker, is
that we have to be mindful of what we say unless we
understand the history of what has taken place.
And I may actually, Mr. Speaker, on that note
speak on the motion to adjourn because there are some other issues in terms of us and our history. But I
will leave that alone for now. I will just say one more
time, Mr. Speaker, to the listening public: Let us be sure
that we understand fundamentally what the Government is doing and get away from the narrative which
happens all too often in that it makes an appearance as
if the world or Bermuda is actually falling apart. That is not true, Mr. Speaker. The Gov ernment of course is
very responsible and responsive in what it does. And
we will always put in place legislation that is going to
assist the general public and Bermuda in general.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Go right ahead.

Hon. Jarion Richardson: Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon to speak to or follow on from my colleagues as it
relates to the Health Council Amendment Act 2024.
Most especially, Mr. Speaker, I want to just speak to
some points that were raised by an earlier speaker, including the o ne who just took his seat, about our role
as legislators and this narrative or bogeyman theory
that every time you bring up something bad, you are a
bogeyman.
I just wanted to speak to context, Mr. Speaker,
because I agree that as legislators our role is actually
quite expansive and requires us to do something that


Bermuda House of Assembly not everyone can do. We are elected to, amongst other
things, bring context to every piece of legislation that
comes before this Honourable House. If we were to
simply reflect on the legislation without any kind of correlation, causation or context, or understanding the en-vironment in which it acts, I think we would be doing a
disservice to our fellow Bermudians.
To that end, Mr. Speaker, the questions and
points being raised by the Opposition today relate to
the feasibility, consequences and risk management of
this legislation. Specifically I will speak to the conse-quences part, because, as my honourable colleague
had outlined, there are criminal penalties associated
with this legislation, criminal penalties being the most
severe and can be cataclysmic. Can you imagine a person or a health care provider being imprisoned, what
that would do to their book of business when there are
other mechanisms of enforcement to achieve compliance? Having worked in the compliance area, as well
as a number of Members on the Government side, we
are well aware that there are multiple tools to get peo-ple to comply with any legislative requirements.
So I would push back on the narrative that
simply because we are talking about the context of this legislation that we are in some way, shape or fashion telling the world, or telling Bermuda that the whole
world is burning down. What is more likely is that we
are simply clearly and rationally outlining surrounding
circumstances of the legislation.
To that end, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask a
few questions to the Honourable Minister of Health. In the first instance as it relates to the IT infrastructure,
this is a data collection exercise. And to that end we
obviously are in the middle of a number of developments relating to cybersecurity and information security
in Bermuda, as well as our ability to protect that infor-mation. This Honourable House has already seen the tabling of and Ministerial Statement relating to the Cybersecurity Act, and later on we will be debating a motion to look into the cyberattack of 2023.
So to that end, given that there is quite a lot
that is not yet known about our cyber infrastructure, my question to the Honourable Minister is, What assurances does the public have that this information is ap-propriately protected from cyberattack and othe r
threats? And also, I note that the Honourable Minister
has said that the Health Council will work with providers
to streamline data submission. But she also added that
some guidance would be issued. And my question to
the Honourable Minister is: Once thi s legislation
passes, how long before data collection is given the
guidance notes . . . or (sorry) how long before the guidance will be issued before data collection begins?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time?
Minister. Hon. Jason Hayward : Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health has embarked on a process where she is trying to move along our health care system so that we can get to a place
where health care is more accessible and affordable for all. I think that is a vision that we all collectiv ely can
support on both sides of the House and basically the
general public. There is a set of steps that you require
to engage in to achieve that goal. The experts have indicated to us in order for us to make informed decisions
we need to first have the d ata. But you simply cannot
request data without having a framework to request
those particular data and obtain those data. And so
what we are doing is putting a framework in place.
We cannot put a framework in place that then
health care providers look at the Government and say,
I’m not providing you with this information. So you must have an enforcement provision for those persons who
do not comply. And as a result of that, what you want is
a general acceptance of voluntarily providing the information, and you put in enforcement provision as a deterrent. And there are steps you get to before deterrent.
And this Government, while it legislates enforcement,
the person would have to go in front of the courts, and
the courts are the ones who decide what is the actual
punishment to be given to that individual, while the legislation is guidance as to what may happen.
This is not [unique] to [this piece] of legislation.
For example, MP Richardson brought up about PATI.
And there was an amendment made by the Opposition
in 2014 on the PATI Act. And in that amendment, which
you can find online, you can clearly see that there is a
fine and there is imprisonment. If you go to the PIPA Act, which is a 2016 piece of legislation which was
passed in this House, it is a $25,000 fine and also a
punishment of imprisonment if persons are not compliant with that Act. It is false for the Opposition to come
here and create this narrative as though they do not support imprisoning persons for contravening acts
where persons are either disclosing information or refusing to disclose information. So we are following on
with what is consistent with legislation. I am not here
advocating that it is wrong, because this Government
is putting forward legislation which includes the similar
language.
Mr. Speaker, we must have honest debate,
and the public expects us to come in this House and
operate with a sense of integrity so that they can get
clarity on what we are doing and how this impacts their lives. One would believe that what we are doing today
is not in the best interest of the public when it actually
is. It is in the best interest of the public because in order
for us to progress having a regulatory environment
where we can control costs and fees in Bermuda we
need to follow the necessary st eps.
So I applaud the Minister of Health for bringing
this legislation today. I am asking for the Opposition to
be more responsible in terms of their discourse
1184 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly pertaining to this particular legislation. And that sums
up what I had to say for today, Mr. Speaker.

Actually, I appreciate Minister
Hayward’s (I would say) comments as to the nature of
this particular Bill. I do not think any of us are arguing
or dissenting to the nature of this Bill that is before us.
And we also recognise and appreciate the fact that i t is
a process. It certainly is a process. I think one of the concerns that I have had is that this idea of this universal insurance has been around since before 2012. And I guess it bodes the question, that is a long time now,
13–14 years gone by where we still have been bantering this back and forth. But at least I recall at that time,
I believe it was Minister De Silva who brought this whole idea forward. So I appreciate the fact that we are
moving in the right direction. [It] is a fair comment to say
that we may be moving at a snail’s pace toward it, but
we are moving toward it, and I recognise that and agree with that.
I think the concern thus far that has been
brought up is that we may believe that (and I am not going to centre my comments around this the imprisonment may be a bit much without having information that
the health providers and the health insurance compa-nies are not already complying. We already recognise
that the health providers and insurance companies in particular provide information on a monthly basis to the government, which is to work with them. Whether you
are getting it in the form that you want i t or not . . . we
have talked to the insurance companies; we know that they are providing it. And I will declare my interest. Being the general manager of People’s Pharmacy for
about 13 years, it was a bit of a headache, quite frankly,
dealing with the Hea lth Department, the [Health] Council in ensuring that data were correct.
In fact, when I was in the middle of a huge case
whereby massive amounts of money were going missing and come to find out it was being stolen within the
Health Department . . . Now, that is not to cast a black
eye on the Health Council in and of itself. But the example of what I am trying to get to here is that we have
a dual responsibility here.
We also recognise that the hospital is not
providing on a monthly basis data to the Health Coun-cil. And that is probably one of the biggest pieces to
ensuring that we do come up with a proper programme
and methodology that allows for us to bring premiums
down. And if the hospital is not providing the information and we have got health insurers and health providers providing information . . . hold on a second. We
are giving massive amounts of money to the hospital.
And we are not getting data from them? When we are from the private insurers? I think we need to start talking to the hospital first! And say, Hold on a second here,
guys. We’re about to put legislation in place here. You
need to provide the information.
And maybe that is the premise behind this particular Bill, that they are not getting the information that
they should be getting from the hospital; I do not know.
But it would be good to hear from the Minister the relationship that the Health Council has w ith the health providers, with the health insurance companies and also with the hospital in providing the information that is needed and required to get to the point of what this Bill
is all about and what universal care has always been
about, and that is bringing premiums down.
It is a hot mess right now. That is not a bogeyman theory. That is just the facts. The facts are it is difficult, and we need legislation like this here frankly be-cause it is a hot mess trying to get to this point. But if
the Health Council is having trouble with the mandate
that it has right now and 42 employees to keep up, and
we are going to provide them with more data, who is
going to handle that? I have not heard about the structure from the Minister as to exactly how we are going to
handle . . . this is a massive amount of data. The cause
is brilliant. But the methodology is what we are not
hearing as to exactly how this is going to work.
And the concern I have is that already we are
in a hole. HIP [health insurance premium], financial
care . . . in order for us to keep the premiums down as
the Premier stated in the Budget Book, he made the
statement, We have got to go to borrowed money to
help keep the premiums down. So your HIP and your financial care , the benefits that you get are actually
more costly than the actual benefit that people are paying. So they may be paying $400, but the actual benefit
actually costs more, which is why we are going to get
the money to keep it down.
So we are in a bit of a pickle here. And that
essentially kicks the can down the road because you
have still got to pay the piper. That money has to be
paid. So it is a noble thing. The Government has taken
on the initiative that we are going to take monies, and
we are going to put it into this basket here to help keep
premiums down. But at some point in time we are going
to have to pay that money. So it is imperative, I agree, to get the data so we can get to a point whereby we can
make this thing actually affordable. How long that takes
is my concern. Because future generations are going to
have to pay for going to the borrowed funds, whilst cur-rent generations are leaving! So we are in a bit of a
pickle here.
So I recognise this is a good cause. However,
the practicality of this here, when we cannot get the
Health Council . . . when you have issues of getting
NGOs [non- governmental organisations], non- profits
and these providers, getting them paid in time because
they are donating a lot of services. And the question I
have is, Okay, so who is collecting those data for these
providers who give pro bono? One of the arguments I


Bermuda House of Assembly had back some time ago about the pharmacies. We are
going after the pharmacy fee. We have no idea (declaring my interest again, as I said) how much cost even
the pharmacies [incur] in giving away prescriptions so
that people can get by (because they know t hat they
cannot afford it). And that is done on a daily basis, multiplied by the number of people going to a pharmacy
every single day. Thousands and thousands of dollars
going out to give because they have a mandate. They
have an oath that they cannot tur n anyone down. So
they have got to figure out what to do. So the pharmacies are doing a pretty good job.
Now, I do not know again the relationship between the Health Council, the Health Minister and the health insurers. So we have got to figure this thing out,
and we have got to figure it out with some swiftness. I
am hoping that as we move through this thing . . . because it is, quite frankly, extremely expensive to have
health insurance. And now we are hearing that it is going up 18 [per cent] to 20 per cent in some areas . . .
next month, is it?

[Inaudible interjections]

Yes. I will [yield].

POINT OF INFORMATION
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you.
Just for clarity and edification of our honourable colleagues and the Honourable Member who just
allowed me to clarify. You will recall that there was a heavy discussion here in the House, and we made
some amendments to the legislation that is being proposed as it relates to the increase of the standard pr emium rate, which is the only portion of our insurance
that can be controlled by Government. And notwithstanding that it was suggested by the actuaries that we
would see an increase of $540 per person per year, the
Government took drastic steps to avoid that. So I just
want [to say] for edification of the House that the stand-ard premium rate did not increase. It has not increased
since 2019. And this Government has stayed consistent about that.
What the private insurance companies are doing we have no control over. But what we can control is
the rate that is governmentally legislated by this House.
Thank you.

Yes. And thank you for that
information. It really goes back to the point as I said already that the service that is being provided by the
Government that they can control, the money is coming
from somewhere else to supplement this challenge. And so with i ts coming from somewhere else, we have
got to pay the piper. We are still paying for it. We have
got to get the whole system to a point whereby —which
is why we want these data —we can really hone in on
lowering the premium.
My question is, How long is it going to take?
How long is it going to take since we have been talking
about this for over a decade—more than a decade— of
getting to this point? I said I appreciate the fact that this
is a move in the right direction. But quite frankly, this is
taking too long. In the meantime our seniors, our middle
class and our lower income, continue to suffer because they cannot afford it. They just cannot afford it. And so
until we get to that point, we are going to continue to
borrow. T he question is, How much is that money going
to cost us in the borrowing to keep it down? Noble cause, I understand it. I understand it. But we have got
to get to the point where we are moving far [more
swiftly].
Listen. Mr. Speaker, the last time that we had
a report from the Bermuda Health Council was back in
2018 —2018! We have not had a report since. And in
2018 the report said health system, public and private
costs, total (Let me get the total right. Where is it
here?) —$736 million. Mr. Speaker, $736 million! That
is 2018. I cannot imagine what it is now. This is from the 2018 report from the Health Council. I can table it if
you wish.

[Inaudible interjections]

Yes. But it is a report from the
Bermuda Health Council. It comes from their report. You can look it up; I looked it up.
That is the last time we got a report. The Minister should know that. The last time we got a report
was in 2018. That stipulated seven hundred . . . Okay,
well, I will ask the question then.
Can the Minister tell us how much we are
spending as of 2023 for health costs, the health system? Cannot, because we have not had a report from
the Health Council!

[Inaudible interjections ]

So we are going to crosshairs
here. All I am saying is that I have got the data here and
in 2018 it cost us $736 million. The question is, How
much is it costing us now? So we have got to move
faster in getting this information forward.
The only contention that we have at this point
in time is the imprisonment. You have already heard the arguments. I am not going to go as far as that there.
We heard about charities and the likes. Well, there
might be some in- between ground as opposed to imprisonment. I do not know.

Something. I do not know.
And I think we should probably be looking at that in the future. With all other measures, when it comes to non -
profit organisations and charities and the health insurance and the pharmacies and all of these folks who
were doing s tuff pro bono that we need to identify as
well. And I have not heard that we are collecting that
information, of pro bono.
So with that in mind, Mr. Speaker, I know it is
lunchtime. I will sit down. Thank you very much.

Two o’clock. Thank you.
Members, the House now stands adjourned
until 2:00 pm. And we will come back, and we will continue this debate and then move on to the next item on
the Order Paper.
At this time we are adjourning for lunch.
[Gavel]

Proceedings suspended at 12:31 pm

Proceedings resumed at 2:01 pm
[Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Deputy Speaker, in the
Chair ]

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I just have a few questions for the Minister. Firstly, I would like to just state,
as it has been said a couple of times, that I believe that
across the aisle everybody is in agreement that health
care—the cost of health care, the quali ty of health
care—is, if not the number -one subject, then pretty
close to that. Anybody who has been through the hos-pital system recently would have gone through that experience. Unfortunately, I had to go through that experience with my mother not too long ago. And it makes
you understand that not only do you have to have the
ability to pay for the health care, but you want to make sure that that health care is at a quality level for your
loved ones and for yourself.
And with that, we have a really good understanding that we will do everything we can to support
the Government in trying to get to a point where we can
not only make sure that the quality of our health care is good, but if we can reduce that cost I think t hat helps
everybody in the country. But with that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Minister rightly said that when you are looking at this you have to make sure that when you
are trying to manage something so big you have to
have the information to be able to meas ure what the
issues are. So with that, I have a couple of questions.
The first question would be, Considering how
long this has been a major issue in Bermuda and that we have been trying to come up with solutions for it,
when did the Health Council and the Minister become
aware that the data became a priority? The reason I
ask that is because if this is one of the things that has
been holding us up from getting lower cost of health
care for our population, it is important to know when


Bermuda House of Assembly that process started. Is this an issue that has been going on for quite some time? When did you find out what
that issue was that we needed this data collection? Or
is it . . . because, obviously we have been collecting
some data. It sounds like what we ar e doing is we are
having to get a little bit more from the data. So if that is
the case, when did we find out that this was the situation?
But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, along with that, it has
been brought up by one of my colleagues that potentially the hospital has not been able to provide some information. So rather than make that kind of assumption, I would rather ask the question, Is the hospital able
to provide the data that are going to be requested after
this Bill is passed? If the hospital is not able to do that,
how long will it take for the hospital to be able to get up
and running so that they can provide the data? And if that process i s going to have a cost associated with it,
because remember, as you add cost to it, that is potentially causing the situation that we already know [is bad
to be] worse. So it will be important for us to know what it is we are looking at with that.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, another question for me
would be, From the Health Council’s standpoint, if we understand that collecting these data is important, both sides agree with that, how long will it take to collect the
data in order for us to be able to get t o the point to look
toward a solution? The listening audience is going to
want to know when they could possibly see lower costs.
When could they possibly, if you do not have insurance,
be able to get the insurance? If you are under -insured,
be able to get more insurance? Be able to know that if
something happens to you or a loved one, you have the
ability to get that health care?
It would be important for us to have an understanding that once this Bill is passed, how long is [it go-ing to take for] this process of data collection to happen in order for us to get to a point where the data that we
have collected allow us to now move t o the phase
where we can make decisions so that we can help the
people who need our help the most?
I think those questions will help not only everyone in the House to understand where we are going
next, but also the population. So thank you for this op-portunity.

Thank you, MP Smith.
Any further speakers?
There appear to be none.
Minister.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
and thank you, honourable colleagues, for your contributions in what is an incredibly important step toward
our attempting to right -size the health system by providing for universal health coverage as well as requiring
the n ecessary data for us to do so.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I am just going to try to
answer the questions. They may not necessarily be in the order in which they were asked, but I will do my best
to provide such information, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Shadow
Minister of Health started with a number of questions,
one of which was, Will the Health Council assist in
providing data to providers? Mr. Deputy Speaker, the
Health Council has a current data request process
which is ongoi ng. So if you want information, you make
that request and they will continue to provide access to
the data that are [collected] upon request.

[Crosstalk]

Thank you.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Yes. Also, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
the single practitioner . . . this was a question by the
Honourable Shadow Minister of Health. The Health
Council will determine how capable a provider is before
requiring the data. This is to be a two- way street. While
data may be needed, it is not of anyone’s benefit to
force data from providers who actually cannot provide
the data. I am going to return to that in a moment because there were a number of questions that were
asked concerning that. So if you will just . . . I will come
back to that.
There was another question insofar as the data
that are coming from BHB [Bermuda Hospitals Board]
and the charities. Mr. Deputy Speaker, there is a great
opportunity with the new Cerner system to create a path for streamlining data that comes from BHB. Ev erybody might remember the Cerner system that was
spoken about [approximately] a year and a half ago. So
we agree that there are solutions that exist within the
third sector that we need to collect data from. And we
are hoping to include these data in a larger narrative as
the third sector has been very interested in collecting
and supporting efforts to better understand what their
data are.
A digital health strategy has been developed to
progress the digitisation of data so that more people
can contribute to the critical data collection effort over the mid- to long- term. You may recall in this Honourable House, I believe it was last November , we made
before the House . . . actually, I gave a Ministerial
Statement about the National Digital [Health] Strategy and invited Members to look at it and search for themselves the recommendations that came from that.
There was another question by the Honourable
Shadow Minister insofar as, How can the insurers get
the data? And again, they can ask for it currently as
they do now. So if they want the data, they can ask for
it. And reasonable requests that maintain the i ntegrity
of the fair competition can be of benefit to the public as well. So that information will be provided, but again
1188 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly there is a process where you have to make the request.
And then it is provided to the individuals.
The Health Council has a very strong relationship with charities, and they will continue to work to
support them and their desires as they wish to collect and produce data for their own purposes.
Another question by the Honourable Shadow
Minister was as it relates to, What is the legislation ulti-mately trying to solve? And, Mr. Deputy Speaker, there
are no solutions to complex population health problems
within our community without the data. We can not intervene on issues such as wait times, disease prevalence, cost of health care and its impact on vulnerable
persons, residents’ ability to afford healthy foods, the
trend of mental illness, et cetera, unless you can measure how big these issues are. A gain, and I keep repeating it, you cannot manage what you cannot measure.
Health care delivery is a process that can only be improved on if we can identify where the problems lie;
hence the collection of data.
The Honourable and Learned Member from
constituency . . . 12?

Learned . . . oh, 22.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Okay, constituency 22. [The Honourable Member] asked about the definition as it relates
to “approved schemes.” And I would like to invite his
attention and [that of] Honourable Members to the
Health Insurance (Approved Scheme) Regulations 1971 that provides what an approved scheme is. It is,
again, the Health Insurance (Approved Scheme) Reg-ulations 1971. And for an example for the Honourable and Learned Member, like the bank has an approved
scheme for their employees.
And then, Mr. Deputy Speaker . . .
I am sorry, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Bear with me.

Yes. Any time you want to.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Oh, okay. What assurance does
the public have that this information is appropriately
protected from cyberattacks? Mr. Deputy Speaker, the
Health Council has been in discussions with the Chief
Information Security Officer. In fact, the Health Council
has been defined as a regulator under the Bermuda Cybersecurity Strategy per the pending cybersecurity
legislation. So there is definitely accountability that the
Health Council have on its own ability to make sure that
the data they collect will remain safe.
How long before the collection of data and the
guidance notes? I am not 100 per cent sure what this
means. But the data collection activity being proposed
as per this legislation will have specific timelines included with respect to the data being proposed. I am not going out tomorrow and saying, We need A, B, C,
D, E. But it will be an incremental approach toward the
relevance of the data collection. And again, the Honourable Members will refer to the legislation that
speaks to the areas in which the data have to be collected supported by the evidence as outlined in the legislation.
And, Mr. Deputy Speaker, currently applying
the 11.6 per cent GDP [gross domestic product], as of
2023 the current health system spend is $780 million.
And a big reason for the delay over the last few years was with respect to the report, which is the National
Health Accounts Report that you were referring to of
2018. A large reason for the delay with respect to updating that is that there are a number of stakeholders
that are refusing to provide data for this.

[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: I am not talking about medical
providers.
Please note that the Health Council is consistently putting out reports on the health system and statistics on their website. They speak regularly to that.
Okay. I believe that answers the questions, Mr.
Deputy Speaker.
So just in summary, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
again, and I know I keep sounding like a broken record,
but, again, we cannot manage what we cannot measure. And that is an important aspect to what we are doing today. We have already heard of the importance of
data collection, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and how it will be
used to help support evidence- based decision- making.
We do not want to introduce policy or things to help our people if we do not know what the problems are; we do
not know what the problems are to the extent of the absence of the collection of data. So it is circular.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, there was a lot of discussion that was on this insofar as the penalty as outlined in the legislation with a fine and/or imprisonment.
And some of the illustrations were given of other pieces
of legislation. But in particular, the B ermuda Health
Council Act 2004, which we are seeking to amend to-day, already contains two provisions where the failure
to contravene a particular provision under this Act can result in a fine or imprisonment. So this proposal that
we are debating today is consistent with what already
exists in the legislation.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because the collection of data is so important, and we have heard Members speak about what the advantages are and what
we can do by using those data, the noncompliance is
not an option. If people want to just deliberately not
compl y with the legislation, then we need to be able to
have the teeth to enforce that.
However, let me add there is a difference between noncompliance and can’t do. The Health Council recognises that distinguishing between noncompliance
and a lack of capability to produce the data is crucial for


Bermuda House of Assembly ensuring fairness and accuracy in their efforts to enforce this particular piece of legislation. And to address this challenge, as I said previously, the Health Council will adopt a proactive and collaborative approach to en-gage with their stakeholders. Health care providers, in-surers and the schemes, approved schemes, are given
clear guidance on the data that are going to be required
and why, as well as the reporting timelines and the like. And the Health Council will continue to offer support and resources to facilitate compliance.
In addition, the Council will conduct regular assessments of the data that are being reported and the
capabilities across the health care sector to identify if
there are any potential gaps or challenges with respect to these services being able to report and provide the data, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And in instances where non-compliance is suspected, again, there has to be drawn a distinction between I can’t do it and noncompliance.
In instances where noncompliance is suspected, the Council will engage in dialogue with the relevant stake-holders to understand the underlying reasons and to address any of the barriers to compliance that may be involved. It may be technical assistance that is required. It may be offering training. It may be helping
them with data reporting mechanisms to help accom-modate those specific needs of the stakeholders.
But importantly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, by fostering open communication and partnership with the health care providers, the insurers and the schemes,
the Council aims to promote a culture of transparency
and accountability. And again, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the
data that we are seeking to require is incredibly im-portant for us to help to strengthen the system. And un-fortunately, we do have to put in checks and balances as they relate to compliance, not only for the reasons I
have spoken about, but also there are circumstances
as I said now where the Health Council is not getting
the data that legislatively they are required to get. So we are going to have to use the stick.
With that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like to
move that this Bill be now committed.

Honourable Members, we are now in
Committee of the whole for further consideration of the Bill entitled Bermuda Health Council Amendment Act
2024 . I call on the Minister in charge to proceed.
Minister, you have the floor.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to move clauses 1
and 2. I understand that there is a proposed amend-ment. However, it is only a three- clause Bill, so I will be
moving clauses 1 and 2, please.
Let me read clause 1 first.
Clause 1 . . . Mr. Chairman?

Proceed.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Clause 1 provides the title to the
Bill.
I will read clause 2, but again there is an
amendment being proposed as I understand it.
Clause 2 amends section 5 which deals specifically with the functions of the Council of the Bermuda
Health Council Act 2004 by renumbering the current provision as section 5 (1) and inserting subsection s (2),
(3) and (4). S ection 5(2) and section 5(3) provide for
the Bermuda Health Council, under the direction of the
Minister, to require licensed health service providers, licensed insurers and approved schemes to provide in anonymi sed form returns, statistics or other information
necessary to support object ive decision -making with
respect to health care service delivery, health care utilisation, health care costs, and the payment of fees for
health products and services, and to support the implementation of universal health coverage. And section
5(4) makes it an offence for a licensed health service
provider, licenced insurer or approved scheme to fail to provide the returns, statistics or other any information
that is required by the Council. Thank you.

The amendment, for the purposes
of the record, as moved is this:
The purpose of this amendment changes provisions under the Bermuda Health Council Amendment
Act 2024 to remove imprisonment as a punishment for
certain offences connected with the failure to provide information created under that Act. The amendments are as follows:
This amendment amends the Bermuda Health
Council Amendment Act 2024, defined as “the Bill”;
1190 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Clause 2 of the Bill (which is the relevant
clause we are dealing with now in the Committee) is
amended by deleting at clause 2(b) the words [at proposed new section 5(4)], “ Any person who fails . . .,” et
cetera, and all subsequent words until the end of that
subsection. And then replacing the deleted words at
clause 2(b) with the following words [at proposed new
section 5(4)]: “Any person who fails to supply the required returns, statistics or other information pursuant
to subsection (2) commits an offenc e and is liable on
summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000.
And for completeness, the amendments to
clause 2(b) are shown on the paper circulated to the
Members in this Honourable House.
We move that motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And we would call
for names. Thank you.

Thank you, MP Pearman.
Would anyone wish to speak to that amendment?
The Chair recognises the Minister.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate the Honourable and Learned
Member’s sentiments as he makes this proposed
amendment. But, clearly, for those reasons that we
have spoken about, which I will reiterate, the Govern-ment does not support amending the legislation as proposed.
There are a number of issues as it relates to
the challenges that we have collecting data, not the
least of which there are requirements under the legislation now, and not all entities that this legislation speaks to are providing the Health Council with t he data
now. So in other words, in order for us to ensure that we are able to collect the data for the purposes and mischief behind this Act, we require that there has to
be a strong deterrent, so to speak.
I have spoken about it previously. It does not
mean that all matters will be dealt with as it relates to
imprisonment. But it is a deterrent in circumstances
where it is flagrant noncompliance. And for those reasons the amendment is not supported by the G overnment leading this Bill.
Thank you.

Members, we will now begin a roll call
for the proposed amendment. And I will now call on the Assistant Clerk to begin names.

DIVISION
[Proposed amendment to clause 2 of the
Bermuda Health Council Amendment Act 2024]

Ayes: 5 Nays: 18
Mr. L. Craig Cannonier Lt. Col. Hon. David A. Burch
Ms. Susan E. Jackson Hon. E. David Burt
Mr. Scott Pearman Ms. Crystal Caesar
Hon. Jarion Richardson Hon. Vance Campbell
Mr. Ben Smith Mr. Curtis L. Dickinson
Ms. Lovitta F. Foggo
Hon. Tinee Furbert
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert
Hon. Jason Hayward
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain
Mr. Anthony Richardson
Mr. Jamahl S. Simmons
Hon. Kathy L ynn Simmons
Mrs. Ianthia Simmons -Wade
Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan
Mr. Neville S. Tyrrell
Hon. Michael A. Weeks
Hon. Kim N. Wilson

Absent: 9
Mr. Wayne Caines
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva
Mr. Christopher Famous
Mr. Dennis Lister III
Mrs. Renee Ming
Mr. Walter H. Roban
Mr. W. Lawrence Scott
Mr. Scott Simmons
Mr. Jason Wade

[Pause]
The Assistant Clerk: The proposed amendment is defeated with 18 Nays to 5 Ayes.

[Motion failed on division: The Opposition’s proposed
amendment to clause 2 of the Bermuda Health Council
Amendment Act 2024 was defeated .]

Yes. The Deputy Speaker: Thank you.
The next Order of Business is the motion [to
be] moved by the Honourable Minister Vance Campbell.
Minister Campbell, you have the floor.

MOTION

ESTABLISHMENT OF A PARLIAMENTARY JOINT
SELECT COMMITTEE TO EXAMINE AND REVIEW
MATTERS SURROUNDING THE CYBERATTACK
ON GOVERNMENT IT SYSTEMS
SEPTEMBER 2023
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I move that the House do
now take under consideration the following Resolution, notice of which was given on the 15
th of March 2024:
WHEREAS the Government have undertaken
in the 2023 Throne Speech to “ strike a Joint Select
Committee of both Houses to inquire into and make
recommendations arising from September’s cyberattack”;
BE IT RESOLVED . . .
Do I read that part right now, or does that come
at the end, the next part?

Yes.

Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Deputy Speaker, cybersecurity incidents are not new. They happen all the time
and most of the time are dealt with by security
measures that are in place and end up being nonevents. However, Mr. Deputy Speaker, on September 20, 2023, the Government of Bermuda experienced
1192 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly a cyberattack that compromised the security and integrity of its information systems. The attack resulted in
major disruptions in the delivery of essential public services. This cyberattack, Mr. Deputy Speaker, constituted a serious and unprecedented threat to the na-tional security of Bermuda. The attack also underscored that, although the Government have provided
increased funding over consecutive budgets to address
the needs of an ageing information technology system
and to improve our security posture, more needed to
be done to strengthen the cyber resilience of the Gov-ernment.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the purpose of this motion
is to request the approval of the Honourable House of Assembly for the establishment of a joint select committee in respect to the September 2023 cyberattack on
the Government and the people of Bermuda.
Standing Order 37(4) states that “ A Joint Select Committee may be appointed at the request of either House with the approval of the other House. ”
Standing Order 37(1) provides for the Speaker of the
House to appoint the members of the joint select committee. Mr. Deputy Speaker, the joint select committee
process already exists as a mechanism available to the
House for occasions such as this. This Government in-tends to use this process to facilitate the inquiry without
incurring the huge costs associated wi th the Commission of Inquiry.
Some other reasons for this course of action
are as follows, Mr. Deputy Speaker:
• Legislators can understand the key issues and
sensitivities involved in and around the cyber
incident and the Government’s response.
• It can foster bipartisanship and cooperation
amongst parliamentarians on a matter of national importance.
• It can report its findings and recommendations
to both Houses of Parliament, which can then
debate and act on them.
• It can conduct hearings, call witnesses and request documents within parliamentary privilege
to ensure protection of members and participants.
• The time to complete the review and reporting
should be shorter in comparison to a Commission of Inquiry.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, a Commission of Inquiry
is certainly more costly and time consuming. The rec-ommendations are not binding and can be rejected.
The findings may be perceived as biased and nonpartisan. And confidentiality may be compromised.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the joint select committee
would have the following objectives:
• to conduct a thorough and independent inquiry into the circumstances and causes of the cyberattack, the impact and consequences of
the attack and the response and recovery efforts of the Government and others; • to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of
the existing policies, laws, regulations, standards and practices related to cybersecurity and
data protection in Bermuda, and to identify the
gaps and challenges that need to be addressed;
• to make recommendations on how to improve
and enhance the cyber resilience and governance of the Government of the country and to propose legislative, regulatory, institutional and
operational reforms and initiatives that will ensure the security and integrity of the government’s information systems and data; and finally,
• to solicit and consider the views and opinions
of various stakeholders and experts on the is-sues and matters related to the cyberattack
and its implications, and to foster public awareness and engagement on cybersecurity and
data protection issues.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, a joint select committee
will have the following benefits: It will
• demonstrate the commitment and accountability of the Government and Parliament to address the cyberattack and its aftermath in a
transparent, inclusive and collaborative manner;
• provide a platform for constructive dialogue
and cooperation among the Government, the
Opposition and other stakeholders, and foster
a culture of trust and confidence in the democratic process and institutions;
• enable a comprehensive and holistic analysis
and evaluation of the cyberattack and its implications, and facilitate where necessary the development and implementation of evidencebased and consensus -driven solutions and actions;
• enhance the cyber literacy and awareness of
Parliament and the public, and promote a
shared responsibility and ownership of cyber-security and data protection among all sectors
and segments of society.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, during their deliberations,
members of the joint select committee will hear about
the immediate and decisive action taken by the Government to engage the necessary expertise both locally and internationally to contain the threat and to commence measures to remediate and restore our system.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, members of the joint select committee will hear from dedicated public officers about the thousands of hours and sleepless nights they committed to the remediation efforts, and to cr eate ways of
paying government bills and providing the delivery of
some essential services during what were extremely
difficult times. And I will add that some of these public
officers worked seven days a week each week for multiple weeks at a time.


Bermuda House of Assembly They will also hear how our digital environment
is now more robust and resilient in the aftermath of the
cyber incident. Mr. Deputy Speaker, earlier today Minister Weeks tabled two Bills, the Cybersecurity Act
2024 and the Computer Misuse Act 2024. Both are the culmination of efforts that were ongoing prior to the
September cyberattack, and I am sure the Minister will
have more to say on this when he speaks to this motion.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the cyber incident was a
wake- up call to the Government and the country to recognise and address the threats and risks that exist in
the digital age. The appointment of a joint select committee is necessary and timely. It will provide a comprehensive and independent inquiry into the cyberattack and its aftermath, and will make recommendations on
how to enhance the security and integrity of the gov-ernment’s information systems and data, as well as enhance the privacy rights of the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I urge this Honourable
House to support this motion and to approve the appointment of a joint select committee in respect of the
September cyberattack on the Government and the
people of Bermuda.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Minister
Campbell.
Any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Honourable Member,
Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Richardson.
You have the floor, sir.

Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I rise today on the motion
the Government has made to strike a joint select com-mittee for the purposes of reviewing the incident —that
is, the cyberattack of September 2023.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, it should come as no surprise that the Opposition has already spoken to this matter publicly and advocated for a Commission of Inquiry. It is my intention to outline the benefits of such
an exercise versus that of a current joint selec t committee as proposed. And to that end, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
I will commence my presentation.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, there is a phrase that You
don’t let a crisis go to waste. And unfortunately, we did have a very disruptive cyberattack. The Government
Member who just took his seat called it major disruptions in the delivery of essential public services, serious
and unprecedented attack. To that end, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, given that we have faced such a calamity in
our circumstances, a Commission of Inquiry is a better
mechanism by which to undertake this work.
In addition to other reasons, I will start with independence from Government, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I think it is key. The Honourable Minister has already put
out what he feels the joint select committee will hear. He said that it will hear about immediate decisive actions, hear about the work of public officers, and it will
hear about an improved digital environment. Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would submit that putting forward such
argument before the assembly of, or the striking of the
joint select committee goes to the point of the inevitable
bias that we are arguing will occur in the joint select
committee.
It is a fact that the joint select committee when
formed, obviously has to be formed from parliamentarians, that being Members of this Parliament, this Hon-ourable House and of course that other place. The
members currently assembled already represent sides
of a political conversation and several different positions. The argument being advanced is that the members when they join this committee will somehow be independent of all of the previous positions taken, that being the Government side and the Oppositio n side,
that they will simply relinquish and walk away from
these obligations as imposed. And this is my point, that
it cannot be independent.
If it is a joint parliamentary committee, it will be
by necessity subject to a number of conditions. The biggest condition is that it will be called from Government
Members. Most people will be Government Members.
And the other key point is it will be res tricted by the resources and budgets of Parliament.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, our Parliament currently
sits in temporary accommodations that are not suitable
for the purposes of our role, the work that we have to
do. Further, we do not have the full staffing for the Parliament. We have gone through this during t he Budget
Debate.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Jarion Richardson: We also do not have conference rooms, offices and facilities. And further, we have not seen an increase in funding to support such an effort. So my point, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is that the joint
select committee will be limited in what it can do from
this position. We simply do not have the finances to afford it in this Honourable House.
Equally, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would add that
a Commission of Inquiry is fully independent from Gov-ernment. It would be fully transparent. It would have independent members. It would have an allocated
budget. And I will speak to the point on expertise, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. We are assuming that the Honourable
Members here are fluent enough in IT matters that we
can delve into the very deep waters that are cybersecurity.

Are you putting a counter resolution in? Because I think it is pointless to discuss that you want to Commission of Inquiry unless you are putting in a counter resolution. Because this is about a joint
select committee. I do not want to disturb you, but yo u
know.
1194 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Jarion Richardson: Well, I can finish my presentation and then . . . thank you. I will attend to that.
So to that end, that is why we think there is . . .
I was just speaking about the expertise. And so during
the process of preparing for this debate, I looked at some of the circumstances that we should expect any
examiner of a cybersecurity incident, what kind of
knowledge they need to undertake this work. And I am
just going to read some of those notes, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, because they are quite technical.
It is quite clear that we would have to establish
the context of the inquiry by way of scope, and this is
before we actually touch it, touch on the matter of the
cyberattack itself. We would have to establish the degree of IT systems and data segregation a nd integration across all government services. We would have to speak to or learn about the quality of service providers to the government.

Yes, but let me say, Honourable
Member. That will be determined by the joint select
committee which you will be a part of. We are not here
to set the rules of how they operate, their findings,
right?

Hon. Jarion Richardson: Mm-hmm. Yes. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I appreciate the guid-ance.
What I am trying to point out is the depth of the
expertise required for this particular exercise.

But again . . . again, Honourable
Member, the joint select committee can require whom-ever they need to assist them. That would be in their remit.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes. And that goes to my
point of the paying part, that we are going to have to
pay them from the House of Assembly or from the parliamentary budget, from non- ministry budget allocations during the appropriations process. And my point is that we are already in temporary locations. We are
already using temporary resources. And my point is
that we do not have the availability of resources to un-dertake the work.

That has nothing to do with the
joint select committee. Whether we are located in Front
Street, Tucker’s Town or Back o’ Town, it has nothing
to do with the joint select committee where you operate.

Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you.
My preparation is entirely in relation to the conduct of an exercise or the quality of the type of exercise that we would expect from such a severe event. So that
is all of my materials. I am in fact arguing that the re-sources needed are simply not the res ources available
to this Honourable House.

I would suggest that you guide
your participants the way you want to guide them in the
things that you think would be required as being part of
the committee. That is what happens, you know. We
are not asked to do that right here, you know.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I
do appreciate your guidance. I am very mindful that we already have pieces of legislation tabled that attend to
some aspects of this. So it is quite clear that there are
a lot of moving pieces including pieces that have been moved long before we have even started the process.

Yes.

Hon. Jarion Richardson: So if the Government is in a
position to start remediating again . . . from the Honourable Minister’s presentation he had said that those pieces of legislation were tabled from lessons learnt.
So there is quite a lot that has already happened, and
the Government has already reached a conclusion on
a lot of this. So what I am trying to do is put forward—
Hon. Vance Campbell: Point of clarification.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Absolutely.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Deputy Speaker, I said that
the two pieces of legislation were the culmination of efforts that actually started before the cyberattack.

Continue, Mr. Richardson.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
I was actually speaking about Honourable Minister Weeks. His Statement is where that line was.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, look. I can go through
these copious notes about the technicalities necessary in our view to undertake this assessment. My point is
simply that we are not in a position to do that. There is


Bermuda House of Assembly a better way of doing it. And to this end, I would thank
the Honourable Minister to speak to a couple of points,
most especially how we are going to collect and maintain that high level of expertise, as well as, given that
expertise attracts cost, how we are going to pay for it.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member Richardson, Leader of the Opposition Leader.
The Chair recognises the Honourable Minister
Michael Weeks.
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. I would like to start off by saying I definitely support the motion by my colleague of a Parliamentary
Joint Select Committee.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I actually appreciate this
opportunity to speak on this issue that demands attention. As the Minister of National Security, I fully support
this Parliamentary Joint Select Committee because I believe it is urgent, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I t is urgent that
we inquire into the cyberattack on our government.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I have made a few notes,
so you have to bear with me. Mr. Deputy Speaker, we recognise that cybersecurity threats have become increasingly prevalent and sophisticated in today’s digital
age. This attack on our Government serves as a st ark
reminder of the vulnerabilities, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
that we face in today’s online realm. These attacks can
have far -reaching consequences, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
not only compromising sensitive government data, but
also posing significant risks to our national security, our
public trust and even our economy.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, with this growing
threat on our landscape, it is imperative that we take proactive measures to safeguard our critical national in-frastructure and the infosystems, to establish a joint select committee who will investigate our cyber attack of
September 20, 2023, and take a crucial step in understanding the nature and scope of this breach.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, a part of what we
brought today, the two Bills, the Cybersecurity 2024 Bill
and the Cyber Crime 2024 Bill . . . like my colleagues
said, I have to reiterate that these are not new issues.
This Government has always been looking to update
our defences and our cybersecurity legislation because
this cybersecurity is not just a Bermuda thing. It is a
global thing. And the threat actors are becoming more
and more sophisticated. It took us a while to get this thing together, this legislat ion together because we had
to reach out to other stakeholders and get their input.
But we have never taken our foot off of the gas. What
happened in September did not make us start the cybersecurity initiative. We have been doing it all this
time. And what happened in September, the cyberse-curity attack, just highlighted the need for us to continue
doing what we are doing and get something here before
this Honourable House. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, in saying that, this
committee, this Joint Select Committee will bring together different experts. Contrary to what the former
speaker said, what we do in a joint select committee, if
I am correct, you reach out to those experts to come in
and participate in the various meetings to help us come
to a consensus of what the issue was. And then we can
present that to Parliament and then to the public. So we
have to make it clear that a Parliamentary Joint Select
Committee is not just confined to the Members within
this House. So regardless of our qualifications, we have the ability to reach out to others to contribute.

Mm-hmm.
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: So having said that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, this committee will bring together these
experts, and they will help us to do an assessment of
the government operations to conduct a thorough and
comprehensive inquiry into what happened in September of 2023. And by analysing its root causes of the
cyberattack, assessment of the Government response
and preparedness, Mr. Deputy Speaker, evaluating existing cybersecurity protocols and our practices, the
committee can then provide valuable insight and recommendations for strengthening our defences against
future cyberattacks. So the establishment of this Joint
Select Committee will demonstrate our commitment,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, to our transparency, our accountability and our proactive risk management in the face of
evolving cybersecurity challenges that will not go away.
But this Government is committed to staying up to date
and fighting against whatever cybersecurity attacks may come on our shores, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
This will serve as a strong message to the public, our international partners and our potential adver-saries, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that we take cybersecurity
seriously. And we will take concrete steps to protect our
Government, our citizens and our own pers onal interests. These recent cyberattacks on the Government of
Bermuda underscore the urgent need for this Parliamentary Joint Select Committee so we can inquire into
the breach and enhance our cybersecurity capabilities.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, by investing in our cybersecurity resilience and staying ahead of emerging threats, we can ensure safety, security and prosperity
of our country. So in conclusion, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
this is a move, this is a decision by my learned colleague that is definitely needed. And I look forward to supporting the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee
and getting to the crux of the problem to help us to increase our defences for any future attacks on our Government.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Weeks.
Are there any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Honourable Member
Kim Swan.
1196 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan: Yes. Yes, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I just wanted to take the
opportunity in support of the motion put forward by my
colleague, Minister Campbell. Having chaired a recent joint select committee where some over 50 meetings
were held, I think the value- for-money negates what the
Opposition Leader said, because I think 50 times the
amount that we were paid was probably the best value
for money that anybody ever received from services.
But I will say this: Select committees and joint
select committees are not something new to jurisdictions outside of Bermuda. I remember as a student, almost a half a century ago, there for political science
classes with the former Governor of Alabama, tal king
about some of the select committees that take place in the United States that are very important. And I think it adds value to the services that we provide as legislators, for us to be able to delve into very critical matters.
I think each and every one of us has the ability, when
we meet collectively, to know that we may require some technical expertise.

Yes. So that was the only
reason I was moved to speak, to speak to its value and
as it relates to something so significant in our country.
The fact that, as you said, Mr. Deputy Speaker, there
will be a diversity of persons in the composition: There will be persons from the other place. There will be persons from the Opposition and there will be persons
from the backbench who will have an opportunity to
delve into . . . and draw off of the technical advice that
is available that is required. And I am sure economists
of scale will be greatly utilised with the great efficiency that is available through the remuneration that—

Mm-hmm.
Hon. Jason Hayward: —and then when we have an
opportunity to force the bipartisan cooperation, the Op-position seems to be reluctant to engage earnestly in
that process. See, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, it is more about making headlines than engaging in the actual activity.
Like you articulated, the Standing Orders and
the terms of reference of the joint select committee will
be well laid out. There should be no question of the
competency of the group. The ability to get the technical expertise that they require to make an in formed
decision will be provided. You cannot water down the relevance of a joint select committee. It has served a
parliamentary purpose for decades. And there have
been numerous beneficial reports coming out of the
work of those committees.
To somehow allude that in this day and age we
do not have the capacity by utilising a joint select


Bermuda House of Assembly committee to bring something that will benefit the Government and the country is somewhat disrespectful.

Yes.

Hon. Jason Hayward: If the Opposition does not feel
as though they have the competency to engage in examination of such a complex issue, then that is what
they should say. But do not cast aspersions on this side
of the floor. Because while they were in the news making the headlines calling for inquiries and things of that nature, this Government was getting Bermuda back on
track. This Government was dealing with the public to
ensure that services were provided. This Government
was dealing with the unions to ensure that the public
service had the resources they needed to operate on a daily basis. And so there are now some lessons learned from not just technical advice, but practical experience
that can be brought to the table so that they can have
a more frui tful conversation.
The committee can also meet, make a determination (based off of the resources they have, they
can only make such recommendations) and make recommendations for further investigation and resources
on various issues which may fall out of the scope of their competency or knowledge base. But this is an extremely useful exercise. We want to say we want transparency. But what is more transparent than engaging
in this process? What is more transparent than hearing
the information first hand from persons who actually
lived through it? You want somebody who comes f rom
a different jurisdiction or outside of the government to
hear the information and then relay the information
back to the relevant technical . . . or the relevant Members of Parliament? And pay somebody to do that? It is
almost [that] we get in this mix -up of be damned if you
do and be damned if you don’t.

Yes.

Hon. Jason Hayward: When we do not put a process
in place, we are not being transparent. We do not want
to work with the Opposition. When we do, somehow
that turns into a bad thing. All of a sudden we do not have resources.
We have passed numerous pieces of legislation without the Opposition complaining about the loca-tion that we are currently sitting in.
[Laughter]

Hon. Jason Hayward: Now all of a sudden not even
these quarters are adequate.
We evolved from a pandemic where we had to
convert Parliament to our own personal quarters. I do
not want to give the world the impression that somehow we are in some subpar facility that does not enable us
to be effective in the execution of our duties. I do not
want to give the public any impression that if a joint select committee is formed that they will not have ap-propriate meeting locations, that they would not have
the appropriate administrative staff, that they would not
have the appropriate resour ces to conduct a first -class
examination of the events that took place. The recommendations that they will make will be important to us
all. And I am actually anxious to see, collectively, what
both parties can come back with and bring to this
House in ter ms of things that we can proceed with moving forward.
It is about, Mr. Deputy Speaker, us trusting the
process. It also leads to a level of consensus -building
because when you have the Opposition and the Government working together, the recommendations have
to be recommendations that are based off of consensus rather than an independent commission making
recommendations and then we debate about the recommendations which either party may not even agree
to. There is huge va lue from en gaging in this particular
process.
I think in an aim to compare whether we should
go and invest in a commission of inquiry or joint select
committee, we pooh- poohed the entire process. And I
do not think that is fair. So if we cannot have a joint
select committee on this particular matter, then what
matters are appropriate to put in front of a joint select
committee, if not this? If you do not support a joint select committee now, then when will you support a joint
select committee? And should we not have a joint select committee as long as we are located in Veritas
[Place]? The Opposition Leader has to make it make
sense. A joint select committee is part of our Standing
Orders. That should be the go- to.
I am confident that we have the technical expertise to wholeheartedly engage in this particular process that will produce fruitful outcomes. The legislation
that will be debated today in this House, like the Minister said, was legislation that was in place prior to the
cyberattack. But what is important and a differen tiation,
what people must understand is that the legislation that
is being brought deals with national security for cyber
incidents, while this would have a very myopic scope in
terms of the s ecurity of the Government itself. And so
there are two completely separate things that should
not be intertwined. And I just want the public to clearly
understand that.
My last point, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is to speak
about the severity of what took place. Our country was attacked by terrorists. We were attacked. We are the victims. It was malicious. It was designed to cripple the
core functions of our country and our democracy and
we have recovered and rebounded because we are resilient.

Yes.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Minister Campbell brought up
the fact that the committee will learn about all the hours
that were put in from public sector workers to restore
1198 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly our democracy, to restore our country, to restore the
vital services that are required. If we should be doing
anything today, outside of establishing this committee,
it is applauding the very workers who worked hard to
restore the services of this Government and this coun-try.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
and good afternoon to my honourable colleagues.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I was not planning to
speak on this particular piece of legislation, primarily because I believe that from its inception and also from the very concept it speaks to itself and provides an opportunity for us to understand where this part icular
piece of legislation is in the selection, the creation of a
joint select committee.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the reason I do rise is because I took exception, as I think many in this House [did] . . . and I support the Honourable Minister of Economy and Labour in his most recent comments on the
floor of this House as it relates to what the Opposition
Leader said, which I felt was absolutely out of order. And that is, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that the public elect
Members of this House to come into this House and they represent them on every issue as it relates to this country.

Confidence in the Members of
this House must be retained and it must be respected, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I believe the Opposition Leader, and I say this with the greatest of respect to him, owes
this House and his distinguished colleagues an apology, becaus e I felt that he took it a bit far. He took it a bit far as it relates to saying that he didn’t think that we
should be the ones to have an eye to this particular
piece of legislation. And I felt that the Opposition
Leader certainly held no confidence not only in his own
benches, but in the benches of the Government.
I believe that the Honourable Opposition
Leader did not necessarily want to impugn the integrity
of his colleagues, but I do believe that he did take it to
the position where he began to certainly tread very
close to impugning the integrity of his colleagues by
saying that all of us in this House cannot and do not and could not take a long hard look at this particular
joint select committee, be a part of it, and be able to
select and then come to a reasonable and a thoughtful
conclusion and decision as it r elates to them. I think that
the Honourable Opposition Leader should consider the fact that all of us are here and we deliberate on many issues in this country.

And we look at many issues in
this country and the public expect that we will be able
to impartially —certainly impartially —make decisions
based on that. So I thought it important to support this
particular piece of legislation but also . . . and the creation of . . . I apologise, the creation of this joint select
. . . I apologise. The Honourable Attorney General has
rightly made it clear. We are not looking at legislation.
She is correct. But we are certainly looking at forming
a joint s elect committee which she is right in this particular [matter].
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I just want to reinforce
that I do believe that if a group is chosen from all of us,
that all of us will be able to make a decision. We will be
able to present the people of Bermuda with all of the
information that they require. And I just want to say this
as a footnote: This particular statement is particularly
assiduous primarily because it feeds into the premise
that this Government is only interested in its own
agenda and that it is only interested in formulating legislation and mot ions that are specific to our own desires
in this House. And we have proven on numerous occa-sions, and over and over again, that we are unselfish in
our deliberations in this House and our consideration for legislation that benefits the people of Bermuda. To
create or to feed into that feeling that we are not is unhelpful, and it should not be encouraged in this Honourable House, as I am sure you do not, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
So I would recommend to the Honourable Opposition Leader that he refrain from impugning the integrity of his colleagues and of this House and that he
recognise the significance, not only of himself as certainly a tactician as it relates to these particular matters,
but that in any judicial circumstances, legislative cir-cumstances, it is the view of the layman, the view, the
common view, that creates the balance in any kind of


Bermuda House of Assembly deliberations that we have as it relates to the serious
matters for the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, thank you for your time.

Independent . . . and I might
be doubling down on the Member who just took his seat when [it] comes to something like cybersecurity and the entire national system at risk and shut down. Who is
held accountable? That is a senior management accountability. It starts at the top. So why are we as colleagues of the Cabinet going to be looking at our navels, which to me sounds like—and excuse me if it is strong language— a conflict of interest to be sitting at —

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
And when I think about some of the joint select
committees we have had in the past, we had the Living Wage Commission. We have had Women’s Issues. We
have had Gang Violence. We have had a lot of joint select committees that have been very successful, but
they are looking at external community challenges and
how we may be able to as a community solve the problem. This, to me, is very internal. It is very internal. And
I will move away from that, but I do firmly believe that it
is very difficult for the coll eagues in this room to sit
down and have to scrutinise or investigate our other
colleagues in the room because the Cabinet has a lot
of accountability to do with maintaining security.

Sit down . . . sit down, Minister.
This Committee will have the ability to call any
expertise they need.

[Inaudible interjections]

1200 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Deputy Speaker: That has been said here already
about three or four times. Let’s not carry on like this.
Come on; let’s be respectful to each other.

The Members in this room
come from a variety of backgrounds, a variety of edu-cational levels, et cetera. But to sit in a room and have to listen to and learn some of the technological complexities of a national government system and how it
has been attack ed by international thugs who have unbelievable talent and skill in infiltrating national systems
. . . I just believe that the expertise needs to be in the
room.
Now, I just . . . I just . . . I just jotted down a
couple of things.

Expertise in the room is
needed, in my opinion, in order for us to really fully understand what is going on.
And Mr. Deputy Speaker, the other piece for
me is that we have had a number of digital committees,
strategies. I wrote a few of them down and, you know, maybe they are the same and changed their names but
we have had a National Cybersecurity Strategy. We
have had a National Cyber Risk Assessment. We have
had Government cybersecurity programmes. We have
had Cybersecurity Governance Boards. We have had
had Government Information Systems Risk Manage-ment Committees. It goes on and on and on. And so, if
we are g oing to have a joint select committee, I just do
not see how we as Members of Parliament are going to
have the expertise to go beyond all of these commit-tees—
[Inaudible interjections]

Yes, it is.
Hon. E. David Burt: And tomorrow.
Mr. Deputy Speaker . . . I am going to speak
very briefly because as the Honourable Minister who led this debate said, cybersecurity incidents happen all the time. They happen everywhere. They happen all the time. We have had other incidents and attacks that have happened since last time, before there were . . .
You review the things, you defend, you learn, you get
better . . . all the rest. This unfortunately has for the Opposition become a political issue. And this whole thing
of which we are hearing around expertise and inde-pendence, et cetera, is nothing but a red herring, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: Because let us say that you had a
commission of inquiry. Let’s look into the commission of inquiry on land losses. Were all those persons who
were commissioners, lawyers, schooled- up in the arts
of all land law? No!

No!
Hon. E. David Burt: They summon witnesses in front
of the committee, hear the expertise, discuss the issues [and] learn. The persons who are responsible for imple-menting matters of policy are public officers who are regularly summoned before parliamentary committees to give evidence so that legislators can understand and
make recommendations to the House. That is the
standard process of governance.

You may.

1202 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. David Burt: [Section 30(1)]: “The chairman of
a legislative committee may issue a summons under
his hand to any person requiring that person to attend
as a witness before the legislative committee at a time
and place specified in the summons; . . .”.
I have heard all this chatter that, Oh, they can’t
call people if it is another type of committee. They can’t
issue a summons. It is here in the Parliament Act.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hmmm. Thank you.

Hon. E. David Burt: I cannot understand why they
have gone down this line rather than going from the perspective of, Let’s actually learn something. Let’s not
politicise this issue. Let’s find out what public officers
have done. Let’s find out what Government policy is
and let’s see if there are things that need to be tightened. Any report that comes from this committee is going to come to this place and that is the regular accountability mechanism of a parliamentary democracy.

Hmmm.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: Where they decided to call a commission of inquiry where the Public Accounts Commit-tee could have easily handled the work to look into various reports. And what was the result of that commission of inquiry? We all know. The only thing that happened was that one of their members was found and
wanted to be referred to the police.
[Laughter]

Hon. E. David Burt: This is not about politicisation.

Mm-hmm.
Hon. E. David Burt: This is about standard matters of
policy that are more and more important for countries
around the world as cyberthreats are more and more
important. It is an opportunity for Members of both
Houses to learn more, to hear information, to gain understanding, to have a deeper level of this issue and
then to make their report to the House. It will improve the knowledge and experience of Members of this
House who can actually help and debate on these matters in an educated way because they are actually getting it rather than the soundbites and the other
things that have been tried out by consultants.
So it is clear that I, of course, support the motion from the Honourable Minister. It is clear that the
contributions from Ministers and Members of this side have made it crystal clear this is nothing new. Let’s stop
politicising and let’s stop attacking Members by saying
that the expertise is not there.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: The committee will be able to
summon any witnesses, get all the information, and actually learn and contribute to constructive debate in this
House rather than the other issues of which are being
attempted here.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you.
Well, that was a barnstormer, wasn’t it? Goodness me! Democracy and roses and puppies.
The OBA called for an independent commission of inquiry swiftly after the cyberattack. We learned in this honourable Parliament today that a Bill has been
tabled— today —to fix the problems (we hope) before
any joint select committee has even been debated upon or decided upon.
So we already have the Bill to solve our problems. But we are going to have a joint select committee,
we are told by the motion.

Are there any further speakers?
There are no further speakers.
Minister.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, in our remediation efforts
decisions were made. This is something that in my lifetime I don’t recall us having to go through anything of
this nature from the severity of this cyberattack. It is not like we are sitting around in the IDT [Information and
Digital Technologies] or in government departments not having done anything to make sure this does not happen again. So, just like we presented those Bills
that deal with cybersecurity on a national level we have
put in measures to improve our security position. We
have made decisions to take a course of action in the
face of something that we have never experienced before.
What this committee will do is . . . where the
independence is . . . these are people who were not involved in those decisions. They are Members of this House. They are Members of another place. They were
not involved in the decisions that were made and so
that is where the independence comes in. And so, all
we are saying [is] this committee will look at those decisions, look at the courses of action, look at the new
security measures that are in place and determine if it
was enough. Should we . . . can we improve? That is
what we are talking about. We are not talking about reinventing anything from scratch.
And as far as legislation, even if the legislation
was not dealing with national security but rather the se-curity of a government system, or systems, there is no
such thing, Mr. Deputy Speaker, as 100 per cent secure in this area. You can be as secure as y ou can today. That same security six months . . . or that same
security system, or measures that are in place, will in six months’ time, or a year, be inadequate because as
was mentioned those who will attack and attack and attack, it is not like they have to sit at a machine and push
a button. They have programmes that continuously attack and will attack a system a thousand times a day to
see if it can get in. So, they are becoming more sophisticated by
the minute, by the hour. So our system that we might
have today that is sufficient for today, tomorrow is inadequate. And so decisions were made under extreme
circumstances. We are just asking for those who are not involved in those decisions, through our joint select
committee, to review the decisions that were made to
look at the actions taken and make some recommendations to help improve. That is all we are saying.
So with that, I want to thank those who have
supported this motion. And I will be honest, Mr. Deputy Speaker, do we go to a vote or what . . . what is it that
we do now? Because —

Is there any objection to that?
There appear to be no objections.
Approved by this House.
[Motion carried: The House resolved t o establish a Parliamentary Joint Select Committee to examine and review matters surrounding the cyberattack on Govern-ment IT systems in September 2023, and to report to
this House its findings and recommendations in due
course.]

Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.

Thank you.
The next item [is] the third reading on . . . I think
someone had a Bill. Oh, yes, [Minister] Kim [Wilson].

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended
to enable me to move the Bill entitled the Bermuda
Health Council Amendment Act 2024 be now read the
third time by its title only.

I mean Premier.

ADJOURNMENT
Hon. E. David Burt: It is now my time to move the motion to adjourn and I will just note for those Members who may not be able to see in the Chamber, we have
zero Members of the Opposition who are in the Chamber at this time. So, of course, it will not be a full debate
on the motion to adjourn; however, I am advised that
some of my Members wish to speak so I will say that in
advance, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
And at [this] point in time I ask that this Honourable House do now adjourn until Friday, May 17, at
10:00 am.

So when people ask why
we do not get along, why we do not work together, it is
because, simply put, they do not want to, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. It is not what they say; it is what they do.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I will not go into the past
debate, but we have worked together on things in the
prior . . . numerous times. I will not name them, but numerous times. So what has changed now? Why suddenly do they want to play like, Oh, we ain’t working
with them people?
Then I am going to quote from another OBA
candidate, if possible, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Many are
leaving this Island because they do not feel their needs are getting addressed by our Black civil service.

The same people that are
going to be knocking on their doors right now [and] asking them to vote, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
So I [say to] Bermudians, it is not what they
say, it is what they do. Ask yourself, i f you are a Black
civil servant, and these same people who did cut your
pay to give money to America’s Cup, these same people who are now attacking you and saying it is your fault
why Black people are leaving the Island and they are
knocking on your door, ask yourself , Am I voting for
them or am I voting for the people who have always
fought for your job? That is what it comes down to, Mr.
Deputy Speaker.
So on that note, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to
talk about someone who has given their heart and soul
to this party. We often talk about young people don’t
want to get into politics. Young people are selfish.
Young people are just not focused on helping ot hers.
So when you do get a young person, or at least younger
than me, say, Hey, I want to get involved further. And
you say, Okay. You hear this all the time. They come
around and you see them start to get involved. Things
did not quite work out the first time for them but they
stay involved. Not only do they stay involved, but they
help out people. They help out their colleagues any
way, shape or form, Mr. Deputy Speaker. An opportunity comes up for them and they say, I will get more
involved.
These are the sort of people who you have to
support because . . . you know what, Mr. Deputy
Speaker? When I think back 63 years ago, there were
some young people in a garage and other parts of the


Bermuda House of Assembly Island, and they said, Hey, I want to get involved. Some
people dissuaded them and some people encouraged
them. Some got involved, some did not make it, some
did not . . . well, when I say “make it” I [don’t] mean like
“live,” I mean, “elected.” Sorry. They got involved. They
got involved in unions, they got involved with civic organisations and they got involved with this party, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. And over the years, trials and tribulations, as you know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, they stayed
involved, one of whom we recently buried, Mr. David
Hughes.
Each one of us —none of us —could have ever
become a candidate unless he somehow okayed it. But
he remained a worker, Mr. Deputy Speaker. So when
you see workers come into a party for workers, you
must glorify that.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I am going to speak
. . . I am going to close here. All of us have been beneficiaries of one of our colleague’s selflessness of help-ing whenever we needed help, being there for us. So
over the last months, Mr. Deputy Speaker, we have been there for our candidate who has never insu lted
civil servants, who has never degraded people of colour. Because despite what she may look like, she considers herself [a person] of colour.

[Laughter]

No, two of them are trying.
[There are] two others trying who have nothing for Black people. We are going to get more and more MPs
attempting to disrespect, not only you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, all of us. So I say to Lindsay, if you are listening, we are her e for you and we are fighting for you.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
[Desk thumping]

That’s right.
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Yes. Mr. Deputy Speaker and
colleagues, I stand today with a heavy heart as we have to come together again in the aftermath of some sense-less shootings and gun play that shook our community
to the core yesterday.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, these recent incidents
that have plagued our streets and our neighbourhoods,
I must reiterate that they are not just statistics and
headlines. These are things that have left our families . . . that leave our families shattered. Not only was I
down at Middletown yesterday, I went down to the hospital. The hospital was on lock down, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, so I noticed as I walked up to the door, standing along the walkway, people. But the mothers st ood
out to me, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I saw at least three
mothers standing outside not knowing the fate of their
sons. So Mr. Deputy Speaker, that really put me back,
you know, when I saw that. Because a lot of times we
talk about statistics, we talk about numbers, we talk
about gangs and whatnot, but the impact that these
kinds of incidences leave on families and their loved
ones, I can’t even explain the feeling I had when I saw
[them].
Thus, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I stand today to appeal to our community that we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this, or shrug our shoulders, dismissing
these incidences as someone else’s problem. This is
all our problem, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The time for c omplacency is long gone. We have talked about it for years
now. But the time for complacency is long gone. So we
must stand together, Mr. Deputy Speaker. We must unite as a community. I have said it and others have
said it. But if we are going to get to th e bottom of this,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, we must stop speaking and get
up and start to unite against the perpetrators of violence. You know, I call for a heavier hand but it is just
me. But I think it is time for us as a community to look
at it. We have to st op sheltering the perpetrators of
these heinous acts. Stop making excuses for them and realise that nobody is safe, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Right on the heels of the shooting yesterday,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I got a call at three o’clock this
morning. Four cars were ablaze on Parson’s Road. So, when I got myself together, my colleague, MP Swan,
and I went down to Parson’s Road to see the cars. T he
police were still there. Many people were still standing
around. Everybody has had enough, Mr. Deputy Speaker. But while we have been in this House today,
there was another shooting up at Ord Road today, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. So I have just . . . there have been no
injuries reported up there. But we must come together. This is more than just a talking thing. These perpetrators are not sleeping out in the bush you know, Mr. Deputy Speaker . . . someone is housing them. Someone
is housing them. So if you see something, say something.
1206 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly It is easy to feel overwhelmed and to feel helpless in the face of these atrocities, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
But remember that we are not powerless. I speak to our community that we have a voice. If you see something,
say something. If you do not feel comfortable or confident, find someone in your community who you can
confide in to get the message across.
Over the last couple of weeks, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, I have been getting calls, emails, stopped on
the street. Ninety per cent of the people who stop me are in support of this Government’s initiative of in-stalling CCTV cameras. But these cameras, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, are not to make our community feel that they
do not have to participate. These cameras are only a tool that is there to help us as a community, help the law enforcement people to help to get to the bottom of crimes in quicker ways. But these cameras do not say that we as a community no longer have to engage in
our duty to help keep our country safe.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, it comes to mind a saying,
a verse in one of Bob Marley’s songs. I cannot remember the song right now. But I remember the verse. Arm
in arms. Arm in arm, we have to come together, Mr.
Deputy Speaker, to fight this struggle. I can’t remember
the exact words. It has been a while since I used to sit
up and listen to it. But I remember what it says is so
relevant today, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael A. Weeks: It is so relevant today. I am
ageing; I am not getting old, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Yes, I understand . . . understand.

Hon. Michael A. Weeks: But you know, getting back
to this, Mr. Deputy Speaker, we must support our law
enforcement agencies as they investigate these crimes. We were down in Middletown yesterday, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Nobody had [anything] to say. You know? Nobody had anything to say, but people pulled
me aside and asked me, What are you people going to
do? You know? And my response is, Well, what are we
going to do as a community? You know?
We walked up and walked down Middletown
yesterday. Nobody had anything to say. I went down to
the hospital, standing around, and nobody had anything to say. But they want to know what are we . . .
what are you going to do? [That] is the usual refrain, comment.
So I am appealing to those listening, to our
community that we are in this together. We are not going to be able to police ourselves out of this mess. You
know, these are our young men who are victims. I don’t know . . . nobody has been caught recently but
chances are it is our young men who are the perpetra-tors also. I am not living in somebody else’s community, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am living in our communities and our neighbourhoods and our houses, our sons, our nephews, our godchildren. We know who they are, Mr.
Deputy Speaker.
You know, if we do not get on top of this here,
the Island is going to get worse before it gets better. And I must keep stressing that we must speak out. The
code of silence that allows these acts, if they continue
to go on unchecked, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I cannot say
enough, If you hear something, say something. Speak
up. We cannot afford, Mr. Deputy Speaker, . . . we are
past the time of being bystanders. You know, we are past the time of being bystanders. We have to shake
the tree. We have to kick down some doors, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. We have expose those who are trying to take over our beautiful Island home.
Cameras are not going to do it on their own.
Police are not going to do it on their own, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Each one of us has a responsibility. Stand up
and speak out because we all, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
have to be active participants now. And whatever that is, you choose your role and do it. Because nobody is going to be allowed or is really going to be allowed to just sit on the side and do nothing. Whatever that is that
you can do, you do it. But everybody must do something, Mr. Deputy Speaker. What we saw yesterday was not only heinous, it was scary. There were four young men sitting down at a table outside in the back-yard. Somebody just came . . . sounds like a TV show,
doesn’t it? That happened at 2:15 in the afternoon, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. Less than an hour later school children could have been right in the midst of that.
I am one of those people who used to [go to]
Central and we used to cut through Middletown in order to go to town. So between Central and Delwood and
CedarBridge—

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Bishop Spencer back then
but very few of us remember Bishop Spencer. But even
Bishop Spencer was there. But we all used to come
through and congregate.
That is a scary situation. That is a scary sight.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Michael A. Weeks: And this happened at 2:15. If
that happened at 3:15, Mr. Deputy Speaker, we would
have had a lot of our school children right in the midst of that madness.
We have to come together, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. I cannot say it enough. That is the only way
we are going to get rid of this violence, to make our
streets safe again, where our members feel valued and respected, Mr. Deputy Speaker. We must stand to-gether, shoulder to shoulder, arm in arms.
[Inaudible interjection]



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael A. Weeks: That’s the tune. Yes. To
speak, otherwise it is going to tear us apart. It is going
to tear our communities apart. So we have to be the
voice of reason. No matter where we are . . . in church
or at the restaurant or wherever, when we are sitting
down and talking about country, someone has to be the
voice of reason. Somebody has to be saying, How are
we going to address this? These are not strangers, Mr.
Deputy Speaker, who are doing this mess. You know,
these are ours . You know ? So, in saying that , my hope
is that we as a community realise that we all have to do
our part, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
I would like to give my encouragement to the
Honourable Minister who just took his seat, encourage him to continue to be strong in the face of the things
that he is seeing, the tragedy that he is seeing, the families who are hurt. And I echo his call for our community to deal with this as a family because it is within our community that this problem lies. So Minister, you have my encouragement and I pray that God gives you the strength to continue to do this heavy task you have
been given.
Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I rise today after the
news, the announcement, by our Minister of Education
earlier this week that West End Primary will be among
the schools saved going forward in the education reform process. It has been quite a journey to get to this point, but I would like to begin by thanking my mother
for articulating the history, Mrs. Cecille Snaith- Simmons, laying out the historical foundation of why the
school should be preserved. I would like to give thanks
to the West End Warriors, to t he members of the community who made it very clear that this is a central part
of our community.
Growing up, if you grew up in the west, you
know —West End, Allen Temple, [Somerset] Cricket
Club—that is the virtual holy trinity of the community.
And the history of the school and what it has produced, when the Minister and the Government heard the com-munity’s plea, add in history and legacy, I knew the fight
was won because the history and the legacy of West
End Primary is incomparable. It has produced two Finance Ministers, C. Eugene Cox and the Honourable
Curtis Dickinson. It has produced countless Members
of Parliament, including former Senator Crystal Caesar,
who now sits in this Chamber. You have had Walter
Lister, Quinton Edness, even Senator Marcus Jones from the other side.

[Inaudible interjections]

Colonel Bur ch, the Honourable Member. And I found out today that our gentleman, the Honourable Member from constituency 6,
spent his first year at West End Primary. So, that is the political legacy, and I probably left off a lot of names as well. Clyde Best, West End Primary; Jay Donawa, West
End Primary; Sonia Smith CARIFTA champion, West
End Primary. We have got Sheryl Martins, Caesar’s
Pharmacy. We have got Lloyd Telford, Telford Electric.
We have got Dr. Fiona Ross. Kenneth Caesar of CedarBridge Academy. We have got from the police,
Na’imah Ast wood. Jason Smith. Former Commissioner
Frederick “Penny” Bean. The former bishop, the Right Reverend Ewen Ratteray. The list goes on and on including our former Speaker of the House, the Honourable K. Randolph Horton. And could go on and on. I
missed many names I am sure, but those are just the
names and the people who have been produced, who
came through that institution.
But the struggle as well that . . . This school
has had to struggle for everything from having the
desks be cast off hand- me-downs from Somerset Primary, which was referred to up until my day as the “White school.” My first encounter with Somerset Primary school students in the 1970s was them throwing
rocks at us, and running home crying to my grandmother, my grandmother saying: Well what the . . .
were you doing around them people? and Don’t come
crying again unless you put one of their eyes out.
So that is the climate. That is the climate.

1208 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjections]

Well, the thing is this here is
that history is past prologue, and where I really want to
go with this is that today the community feels gratified.
Today the community feels vindicated. Today they feel
that the history and the legacy have been appreciated .
And this was a family dispute. And now it is time to put
the family back together. It is time now for us to be able
to start focusing on getting the education curriculum,
the resources in the building, everything right.
There are those who have called for the resignation of the Minister, and my objective and point in participating in any of this was not to bring down a Min-ister or to bring down a government. It was about getting the history and legacy of West End recognis ed and
them being able to move on to give us the best facility,
the best resources, the best tools for our children. That
was critical.
And so, the Minister has a hard job every day.
He has a hard job every day. And I want him to know
that we will work to try and build the gaps so that we
can get focused on the curriculum, the resources, and
what goes into the building.
But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, what annoyed me —
and I go back to saying this is a family dispute— is that
there have been people from the other side who have
never shown any interest in West End Primary, never
shown any interest in their academic celebrations, the ir
sports celebrations, their accomplishments, until they
thought they could get a vote out of it.

I found it offensive, and
many of my people found it offensive as well.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker , just [as] an example,
because there are some who may have gotten con-fused over the past couple of months as to what the One Bermuda Alliance really thinks about the West End
parishes. I can tell you this, Mr. Deputy Speaker . I had
to do the math. It has been six years, nine months,
[and] 15 days since the OBA darkened the doorsteps
of constituency 33. And they say they care. They show
up when a vote is there.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker .

Yes. That is true! That is true! That
is true!
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I will not speak for the rest
of my colleagues as they are more than capable of
speaking for themselves. But I wanted to begin this
evening by saying I personally have not forgotten the
Opposition referring to my colleagues and I as yes -
men, stooges , and, in particular, persons of questionable character . Mr. Deputy Speaker , I feel as though the
Opposition had plenty time to see the error in those
comments. After all, they are the ones who are constantly asking for us to work together. T hey are the
ones who are asking for us to put aside party lines. And
so to then refer to us as persons of questionable char-acter, well, in my opinion, says a lot more about them
than it does about us.
And since, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I do not recall
the Speaker calling for a retraction, I can then only presume that those sorts of words and terms are acceptable in his view. And so, I hope that I will be given the
same latitude at some point with the words and terms
that I would like to use to them. But fortunately, fortunately for them, that is not my focus tonight as there
have been some interesting things that have been


Bermuda House of Assembly unfolding in the lead- up to this upcoming bye- election
that I prefer to speak about.
First, let me say that I, along with a few other
colleagues, are humbled and appreciative to be the first PLP representatives in their respective areas. Person-ally, it is a feat that I do not take lightly. In fact, it is
something that I am quite proud of . But, Mr. Deputy
Speaker , no matter how proud I am, I will be more excited to see a Senator who sits in another place be the
first person to ever defeat a national hero in the polls.

In my opinion, that is a feat that will
not be duplicated.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I will speak it into existence because she deserves it. And I will be there to support her in every way that I can.
So now that I have gotten that a bit out of the
way, let’s get on to what I ultimately wanted to discuss today. You see, Mr. Deputy Speaker , several weeks
ago the OBA candidate for the upcoming bye- election
made some ill -advised comments that sought to single
out and blame some Black civil servants as a significant reason that young Bermudians are leaving the Island.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I then heard his consultant -driven
attempt to rephrase and cover up his initial comments.
But we all knew what he meant. Mr. Deputy Speaker ,
as a member of the Labour Party, but more importantly
a proud Bermudian, I was deeply disturbed by those
comments and could not let them go unaddressed as
they are blatant attempts to tarnish the reputation of our hard- working civil servants.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , let’s not skirt around this
because such divisive language is not welcomed and is, in fact, completely inappropriate. It attempts to draw
lines where none should exist. It attempts to create divisions within our workforce and our community at a
time when unity is needed more now than ever before.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , quite frankly, that candidate
should be ashamed of himself.
But while there are those who are upset at the
OBA candidate for such language— and rightfully so —
personally I am more appalled by the silence of the remaining Members of the OBA. Notice not one Member
of the OBA had the fortitude to distance themselves
from such comments. Mr. Deputy Speaker , I ask myself, How can the OBA now show up and march on Labour Day with our union partners? Because I can promise you this much—I personally will be there to remind
them of not only what their candidate said but of the
complicit silence of MP Jackson, MP Cannonier, MP
Smith, MP Pearman, and most notably their leader, MP Jarion Richardson.

[Inaudible interjection and laughter ]

Mr. Deputy Speaker , this reaffirms
my belief and the belief of many of the voters in this
country that the reason they chose to say nothing is because deep down that is how they truly feel. That is
what they honestly think. That is what they are saying behind closed doors, t hat these Black civil servants are
the problem. Notice he did not say civil servants. He
made sure to identify that it is because of the Black civil
servants, that [they] are the reason our young Bermu-dians are leaving t his Island. And I am sure Jarion Richardson will be right there on polling day patting him on
the back for having the bravery to say how they truly
feel.

[Inaudible interjection]

And so, Mr. Deputy Speaker , allow
me to say for the record that no individual or organisa-tion is perfect. But our civil servants, regardless of their
race, are the backbone of our society. They are the
ones who keep our government running. They are the
ones who ensure that our streets are safe. They educate our children. They take care of the ones that are
sick. They facilitate public transportation. They protect
our beaches and parks, uphold our cultural heritage.
They are dedicated public servants who deserve our
respect and not some baseless accusation.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , when I say baseless, it is
because the OBA candidate cannot tell you how many
young Bermudians have left the Island, nor can he tell
you how many have come back. He cannot provide any
data that supports his claim that the reason that young
Bermudians are leaving is because of Black civil servants. Again, I could care less about this OBA candidate. I am simply disgusted at the feint leadership of the OBA
that will listen to their candidate’s rhetoric, say nothing,
then stand beside him at the polls and make a mockery
of our workers.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , if the Premier, or anyone
on our side of the aisle for that matter, would have said that the reason people are leaving this Island is actually because of White businessmen and [business] women
making sure that they maintain their profits by increasing food prices, or interest rates, or insurance premiums, there would have been an uproar by the Opposi-tion. Yet they choose to stay silent when one of their
own malign our Black civil servants.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , let me be clear and let me
say this categorically that the challenges we face as an
Island cannot be attributed to any single group. And so,
I ask the OBA: Who amongst them will stand up and
demonstrate real leadership and acknowledge that
what their candidate said was completely inappropriate? Who among them will stand up and distance and
denounce such harmful rhetoric? Who among the OBA
1210 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly are truly sincere in making a tangible step towards unity
and will not tolerate such divisive language? Well, I suspect to those questions there will be silence.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the lack of respect for our
civil servants will not be tolerated by this Government. Again, as a member of a Labour Party, I will proudly
defend our workers as best I can whenever I can.
Again, no organisation is perfect. I am not suggesting
that there ar e not areas of improvement. But to specifically blame the Black employees as being the problem sets us back hundreds of years.
And so, Mr. Deputy Speaker , I will close by
saying this. I do not even know the OBA candidate’s
name, but judging by what he says and thinks of our
people, I am pretty sure I will not have to know his name
either. Thank you.

[Laughter]

Thank you, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, we have seen this country’s need for growing tourism necessary to help our
economy, and certainly I declare my interest. I have spent my entire life working in hospitality as I know you
have as well. And so, I want to continue to repeat and
reiterate how important it is for us to see where the opportunity lies for us to get increasing numbers of visitors
to this Island.
I am very supportive of the redevelopment of
the Southampton Princess [in] a community I grew up
in and where my family actually owned property there
by compulsory acquisition for it to be built in 1970. I look
forward to the day when Sonesta could be returned to
the hotel’s stock and Elbow Beach is sold the Lantana
is sold and redeveloped. But in the meantime, I think
we do not see the elephant in the room.
The elephant in the room is not from May 1
where we are now in now. It is May 3 through to October when it is very difficult to find a hotel room. I was looking for [a room] for one of my clients coming in and
was able to get one through some connections w here
they will stay two days in one room and then be moved
midstream, but that is only because there are people
being told there are no rooms in Bermuda. That does
not occur to that extent in November, December, January, February, March, and April. Those 25 weeks this
country has hotel occupancy, which is below 50 per
cent, many of them.
Most people would look at growing the tourism
season by turning September into greater demand into
October and turning greater demand into November and then . . . I look at it the other way. I say let’s go in
the heart of January and work our way back in the opposite direction. I say to this country, if we could get
25,000 more visitors . . . That 25,000 is only about
20 per cent of the total number of cruise visitors that are
coming to Bermuda, so it is not a big number by any
stretch of the imagination. B ut it is a significant number
because if those 25,000 people spent $1,500 on average in a stay, you would be looking at a significant
amount of money, almost $37.5 million injected into the
economy just by their . . . And that would move the needle of hotel occupancy during those months between
November 1 and April 30 significantly enough, but
there will still be a lot of opportunity left to get greater
numbers than 1,000 people a week.
And so, with that comes people who will be getting themselves used to and appreciative of Bermuda during those months. And we will not be venturing into
a period of time that we are unfamiliar with. I remember
coming into the hotel industry in the early 19 70s when
Bermuda was a winter destination. So, it is a matter of finding the people who would appreciate that time of
year and casting your net to encourage them. A thousand people a week is not a lot of people. But when
your focus is not zeroed in on that , you might miss that
opportunity.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I say that because it
bears repeating, and it bears repeating as often as it
possibly can. So I have the medium to do so on a
Wednesday, and I take every opportunity to emphasise
that. And those visitors, they exist in colder climates
during that period of time, people who would appreciate
being in Bermuda when it might be even raining.
And we have many things that are going our
way. We punch above our weight in business. We
punch above our weight in the arts. We punch above
our weight in sports. We punch above our weight in
many different areas. People who might enjoy Bermuda during thos e months might just enjoy being in
Bermuda and reading. They might enjoy being in Bermuda and writing. They might enjoy being in Bermuda
and painting. They may enjoy Bermuda and playing
golf, pickleball, tennis, and the like. They may enjoy being here just learning how to improve their sailing skills
in weather that is more similar to what their summers
are like if they were from Scandinavia and countries
there that are even participating this weekend in the
SailGP. We have seen the success of the Endeavour
programme in Bermuda and reach out across the line
and tick a very important box about diversity and inclusion.
We can go a step beyond and show persons
from those countries through an academy that allows
them to come to Bermuda in the winter months. We
have seen the parents that travel with students who
play golf in particular do not come alone. And if they
need a rain suit, they walk in the golf club and pick out
one. And then the Mama gives the credit card, and
$175 is spent. They do not look at the cost. I watch it


Bermuda House of Assembly happen because they are there providing an educational opportunity for their children. That exists in all different disciplines, and we have the opportunity. We
have the climate. We have the context. We have got to
make it happen. We have infrastructure that would be better serviced if it was operational in the winter so that
when the summer does come, those hotels that are doing well today would be closer to turning greater profits
that they can reinvest back into their properties.
So, Dr. Brown used to call it the golf -and-spa
season. Back when I was promoting Bermuda for the Bermuda Department of Tourism, it was called the rendezvous season. Different people call it by different
names, but November to March is where the opportunity lies, November to March where hotels have a lot
of unsold inventory, and November to March would help us bridge the gap between where we are and where we will be because we cannot wait for the Fairmont Southampton Princess to be built. We must continue marching on to Zion right now as we speak.
I have to follow on with my young cousin who
spoke so eloquently earlier on and remind people that the Opposition of five is not in their seats at this particular time. They are missing in action, as they are on
many motions to adjourn. This is nothing new . They are
very consistent in that regard.
But let me just say this, Mr. Deputy Speaker, it
was in 1983 in the month of February on a day of the third that I ran for this House of Assembly at 25 years
and four months [old], being born in October 4, 1957,
having gone to Berkeley and Warwick Sec., having
known every relative from Somerset to St . George’s
who stood on either side of the aisle, and I had some giants to look up to, Ratterays and Roberts.

[Inaudible interjections]

I have not even left Somerset yet, and I am talking about relatives. I am talking about Brangmans with Swan connections and Ratteray
connections. I am talking about Burrows, and I am talking about Hudsons. And I am talking about Halls. And I
am talking about Mortons. And I am talking about connections through Saint Kitts and connections in through
Bermuda. I am talking about more than 15—close to
20—members of both sides of the aisle that I could
claim as relatives and role models.
I remember a group called the Concerned Bermudians that used to tickle up people. I remember
when the House of Assembly had one Independent, two NLP Members, seven PLP Members, and 30 Members of the Opposition of the Government UBP. Having
a lopsided major ity in the House is nothing uncommon
in this country. But what did the Opposition of that era
do? It did not sit in the House in absentia. It brought
motions to the floor of the House. It brought solutions to the floor of the House. And I can tell you what . The
Government of the day took many of them.
[Inaudible interjection] Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan: Oh yes. You think lowering
the voting age came because the UBP wanted to lower the voting age? Do you think the housing corporation
came . . . or Bills such as that? No, they came out of
the Pitt Commission which had Opposition Members on
the Pitt Commission. We talked about, you know, the
value of Opposition. Do you think a former Premier Alex
Scott’s value even before he became a Member of the
House [was] showing through? And when he became a Member of the House, he spoke to his time doing
those types of things.
Yes, and when the PLP went down to the faithful seven —Walter Robinson, Walter Lister, Stanley
Lowe, and Reginald Burrows, L. Frederick Wade, Otti-well Simmons, and Dame (wasn’t Dame then) Lois
Browne -Evans, the faithful seven—and the three Senators (the greatest three Senators in the history of this
country) . . . I sat in the Senate. I can tell you. That is
who I studied. Oh yes. Maxwell Burgess made me
study those. He said: You want to be a good Senator?
Go study those three, my boy. Alex Scott. David Allen.
And name one more. Jennifer Smith, Dame Jennifer Smith from St. George’s who ran in 1972 a young lady
25 years old as well, and ran again in 1976, and ran
again in 1980, and ran again in 1983, and ran again in
1985, and won as a single, as one person in 1989 —a
strategic stick- to-itiveness . . . That is what is missing
today in this country. That is why you have an Opposi-tion with five seats not even in the House of Assembly.
You talk about care? You want to see what caring is? I encourage those people that came here from Britain to look at Bermuda, look at what is happening
here today, the missing in absentia, and compare that to where people stood at seven of them in the Hous e
of Assembly only against 30 and made their presence
felt because they cared enough to Bermuda to make
sure. And they deliberately . . . Let me tell you this. I
learned this studying them as well. They used to delib-erately bring motions to the floor of the House. They
deliberately kept the Government here late at night.
They tell me Austin Thomas at one time gave a speech
on drugs. And there were no time limits. They caught
me on that one, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
I would have loved to have that much time one
time, you know. And I say it in jest, but you know it is about connecting with communities and serving and
being trusted by people. And that is why we take great
offence when the narrative, the narrative coming from
consultants, from persons who might be too busy to
make those connections, are taking their place from
persons sitting up in the booth . . .
And I know a little about that mind- set. There is
that mind- set that thinks that if I have got millions of
dollars you should listen to me. And why should these guys . . . And they would go out of their way to belittle
the qualified Members that sit in thi s House for the Government. I am the least of them. I am the least of them.
Certainly, academically, I have got some economic giants here with me. I can tell you. I do not mind saying.
1212 3 May 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly I learn from my colleagues. I am just a little country boy
with a little intuition, and I use it to my advantage sometimes. But I can tell you, you know, the wisdom of Colonel Burch. Been there. Been around. Made contributions.
And I can tell you when we were young people,
we grew up in things like Youth Parliament. I was a
Youth Parliamentarian in 1974 when Lenny Swan from
St. George’s was the Minister of Youth Sport and Rec-reation and Dame Lois Browne- Evans was the Opposition Leader, when we had Youth Parliament right next
door to us here in that church hall right there on the
corner of Court Street and Church Street. And do you
know who used to be the counsellor, taught us how to
make amendments and draft Bills when I was the
Speaker of the House and got selected to go to Nova
Scotia but opted to go represent Bermuda at golf in
1974? [It] was the Colonel! [The] Colonel has been
around making a contribution serving the country right
there when the Government came into being in 1998
with experience prior to be able to lend itself now.
So, you have got an Opposition picking people
with no experience, no prior interest in the community,
and coming out there making irresponsible statements
that are being patted on the back by persons who carry an agenda that is automatically biased against anything
PLP.
And let me tell you about the divisions that this
country faced, the racial divisions. It is perpetrated by
the very people that say, I am colour -blind. I do not believe in that. Why would you not when 95- plus per cent
of Whites have voted one way all their lives? Julian Hall
used to call it imprisoned White voters .

Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
I just want to say this, and this is for the benefit
of those persons who come from overseas to look at
Bermuda. Have an honest look. Look at both sides of
the coin. Look at the accountants that I serve with. Look
at the people in IT that I serve with. Look at the persons
who are grass roots labour people that I serve that we
represent. Look at the hoteliers that I represent. Look
at the economists that I am with. Look at the lawyers that I serve. I am the least of them, but I am here to tell
you that the narrative that gets told to you by people
that benefit from things that are wrong is a legacy that
this country must shed itself of.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker .