February 29, 2024

Thank you, Madam
President.
Madam President, I move that the provisions of
Standing Order 25 be granted so that the Senate may now proceed with the second reading of the Bill entitled
the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Amendment Act 2024.

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

[Motion carried: Leave granted for the Investment Busi-ness Amendment Act 2024 to be read a second time
on the same day as its first reading.]

Madam President, the
Bill presented today before the [Senate] is the
Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Amendment Act 2024 .
And the purpose of the Bill is to update the Air Transport Licensing Panel composition and clarify that external airlines are not required to hold an air transport licence , or an ATL.
Madam President, air transport licensing regulates the use of aircraft registered in Bermuda for the
carriage for reward of passengers or cargo. The principal purposes of licensing are to ensure the fitness of
applicants for an ATL to operate such aircraft safely, their financial fitness and adequate insurance and that they are controlled by persons with Bermudian status. Madam President, Bermuda’s current airport
transport licensing system became law almost 17 years
ago. Air transport has evolved immensely since the Civil Aviation (Licensing of Air Transport and Commercial Flying) Act 1950 was enacted. The 1950 Act was
no longer fit for purpose and was replaced by the Civil
Aviation (Air Transport Licens ing) Act 2007 and the
Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licens ing) Regulations
2007. The 2007 Act and Regulations were enacted


Bermuda Senate recognising the increasing liberalisation of economic
regulation of air transport globally, removing the historical constraints on competition in the sector and allowing new opportunities for market entry to bring benefits
to the industry and to passengers and shippers of
cargo.
It was considered timely to streamline and update Bermuda’s air transport licensing legislation. With
the passage of time, it is recognised that the 2007 Act
and Regulations are now outdated in some respects
and in their present form will prevent applications being processed and considered.
Madam President, in particular, the Air
Transport Licensing Panel for which the 2007 Act provides cannot be convened as at least one of the prescribed offices to be held by members of the panel no
longer exists. This bars any application for an ATL to proceed. Currently the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Act 2007 in section 3(2) prescribes three
panel members: the Director -General of the Bermuda
Civil Aviation Authority (or the BCAA) ; the Director of
Tourism; and the Financial Secretary.
Madam President, it is required to change the
“Director of Tourism” membership title to the “Chief Executive Officer of the Board of the Bermuda Tourism Authority.” Additionally, it is recommended to add a provision in the Act to allow substitution by the Minister of
any such person if such office ceases to exist or if the
office holder is unavailable to sit on the panel for any
reason.
Madam President, the 2007 Act will continue to
provide that no aircraft registered in Bermuda shall be
used for carriage for reward of passengers or cargo unless the operator holds an ATL. Operators which are external airlines will continue to be excluded from the
need to hold an ATL. An external airline is an operator who holds an air operator cer tificate granted in a state
other than Bermuda. Some external airlines do operate
Bermuda registered aircraft but are licenced in their
own states to undertake c arriage for reward of passengers and cargo. And it is those states that determine the safety and financial fitness of such airlines to operate.
Madam President, it is therefore proposed that
the Act will now only apply to those operators who hold Bermuda AOCs [air operator’s certificates] . External
airlines will already have been licensed by their own
states and have satisfied similar requirements.
In conclusion, Madam President, accommodating this proposal will require only a few amendments to the legislative framework which will allow the panel
to convene and fulfil its duties. The Minister will have
the authority to make substitutes to the panel if required, a nd for external airlines and operators licensed
in the United Kingdom or any of its territories to no
longer be required to hold ATLs.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Emily Dill. Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor. Doctor
De Couto.

Thank you, Madam President.
One thing is that we are certainly glad to see
this legislation cleared up to be correct with respect to the various namings and it also seems to adjust some
procedures to be a little more streamlined. As you
know, Madam President, the One Bermuda Alliance is
a fan of cutting government red tape.
I do have a few questions. As we are here in
this extraordinary session, which I am grateful for the accommodations of the schedule, Madam President, I
would like to understand the sense of urgency because
some of these changes with respect to the names of the various panel members, those are not new
changes, in the various titles of the other organisations
and so forth. So, I am just curious. Is there something
that has happened externally that is causing us to do
this legislation now? So that is one ques tion that I have.
So, I guess that would be my two questions. Is
there some external thing causing us to really require
us to do this now? And what will be the process to make
sure that when other organisations adjust their titles
and names of positions to make sure these legislations
stay in sync, which of course is really important from a legal perspective. Other than that, of course we want to
support the industry and streamlining where it makes
sense in the right way, Madam President.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to ask questions?
Senator Tucker, Opposition Leader [in the
Senate], you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
And good morning to everyone.
I would just like to ask a question in addition to
my Senate colleague. In the interest of full transparency I am trying not to speak to the clauses directly, but
there is a point about making sure that polic ies and
things are generally shared. So, if the Junior Minister
could let us know what the rationale would be for making certain changes to the policy -sharing aspect, that
would be most helpful just in sort of understanding on
a high level why those changes are being made.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Hearing none, we will wait now until Senator
Dill gets the responses to the questions that have been
asked.

148 29 February 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Rev. Dr. Emilygail A. Dill: Certainly, it appears
from my purview that the brief has clearly outlined the
questions that have been asked, because the legislation that was passed in 2007 actually includes specific titles. So, it was important for us to ensure that the panel could convene, given that there was legislation
that prevented the individuals from doing that. And
also, as you are aware we do have two active air operator certificate holders , BermudAir and Freedom II, that
would require an ATL in order to carry passengers or
cargo for reward. And either of these could be seeking
to apply. So we would certainly want to expeditiously
as possible move the process forward for these carriers.
[Inaudible interjections]

Yes, and they both are
currently using an exemption, so we would certainly
want to ensure that they are fully compliant and that it
is not requiring special privileges on an ongoing basis.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Dill.
Are there any follow -up questions?

Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes, Madam President, there was
no answer to my question concerning why, with the
changes intended, there would no longer be a need for
the panel, or I should say the requirement for the panel to share any policies that they may adopt. It would ba-sically be up to the Minister. So I am just wondering
what the rationale is. There is no opposition to the Bill
as Dr. De Couto, Senat or Dr. De Couto mentioned. I
am just curious as to why the change from mandating
them to making it at the discretion of the Minister.

I am a little unclear of
what you are asking.

The President: Can you pose your question more succinctly, Senator Tucker?

Sen. Robin Tucker: Okay. Yes. I am trying not to sort
of hone in on a specific clause because I know we are
not allowed to do that. But as the changes will allow for
the Minister to decide if the policies that are adopted by
this panel, rather than the panel as it stands be fore this
change is being made, the panel is required to share. So I am just wondering why we are changing so that the panel . . . sorry, the sharing of any sort of policy
changes that are made by the panel will be now up to
the Minister versus for transparency purposes just a requirement for the panel to share.

Okay. The revision
provides the panel as the licensing body to consider
whether it is necessary or expedient for it to publish a
statement of polic ies while preserving the Minister’s discretion to require one to be published. I believe you
are referring to section 16 of the Act, in the revision.
Okay. But it also greatly simplifies and shortens the process for such publication.

The President: Well, with that response, are there any
other questions from any Senator?
Hearing none. Thank you, Senator Dill, for the
responses to the questions and you can now move your
Bill.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Madam President, I
move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Amendment
Act 2024 do now pass.
Is there any objection to the Motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Amendment Act 2024 was read a third time
and passed.]
The President: Thank you, Senator Emily Dill, Junior
Minister for Transport.
And thank you, Senators.

Thank you, Madam
President.



Bermuda Senate The President: Moving on with Item Number 14 of the
Orders of the Day.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
The President: Would any Senator care to speak?
Minister Owen Darrell, you have the floor.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
I won’t be long, but I do just have a couple that
I want to speak on today as we most likely will not be
here for some time. So I want to put these matters of
important congrats and obits.
I will start with the congrats piece. Madam
President, I want to highlight once again in this Chamber the Tino Martinez Quartet. They have been invited,
Madam President, to perform at the South by South-west music festival this March, which takes place in
Austin, Texas. For the music enthusiast s who are listening, they would know that this is a huge invitation
and a huge accomplishment for the Tino Martinez
Quartet who operate right here in Bermuda. This annual event is significantly known for its convergence of
film, music and technology conferences as well as festivals. It serves as a gathering of professionals and en-thusiasts from diverse industries, offering a wide range of sessions, showcases , exhibitions and networking
opportunities.
The Tino Martinez Quartet, as we are very familiar with, continues to refine their craft, captivating audiences with their soulful jazz and jazz fusion tunes.
If you have not been up to Elbow Beach at the Deep,
Madam President, I will say that you should probably
make some time to get up there and see this awesome
musician and his team. Their passion and commitment
to their music is truly inspiring and they have been
working tirelessly to perfect their sound and stage pres-ence. They have launched a GoFundMe page and I encourage all of their fans to support.
Also of congratulations, Madam President,
while it is always disappointing when our football team,
the Gombey Warriors, lose a football game, I could not
think of a more worthy opponent to fall to than a team coached by Bermudian Khano Smith. I want to congratulate both teams on two very sportsmanlike games. And the Bermudian general manager and head coach of the Rhode Island FC on their victories. And I did have
the opportunity to attend the second match and I did congratulate Khano in person and wished him well on
his upcoming season.
Also, a friend of mine, Mr. Raymond Smith, you
would notice in the daily today is reopening what is called now the Court Street Bakery, in the position of
the former Zaki’s Bakery. Whilst some people do not
realise this , the food of our people is entwined with our
culture and Mr. Smith has been committed to maintain-ing the cultural legacy of this establishment . I can’t wait
to go there and order one of those famous cakes and
the Steak n Takes that they have.
And on to obituaries, Madam President, I don’t
know if this one was done in this place before, but I
don’t think so. I want to send condolences to my colleague who sits in another place, MP Jache Adams, on the passing of his father, Mr. Antoine Brangman. I,
along with some of my colleagues yesterday, attended
a moving celebration of life for Mr. Br angman, which
was also attended by most of the Somerset community as he was an integral member of the Somerset community. And I would say, Madam President, one of the highlights of this service for anyone who was there or
was watching online was the in- depth tribute given to
his father by MP Adams. It was full of stories of what a
father/son bond should truly look like, Madam President. So again, I want to send condolences to the
Brangman family.
And my final one, Madam President, was one
that took me by complete shock and surprise. And I don’t know if it was mentioned in this place before, but
if it was , I am going to say it again. And that is with obits.
I want to send condolences to the family of a young man, Mr. Naj é Lathan. You know, I did have an opportunity after learning of his untimely passing to reach out
to his family and offer my condolences, but I just
wanted to offer them here in the Senate. Mr. Lathan
passed away at age 26, Madam President. And I did
have th e opportunity to work with him and engage with
him while I worked in I r place at the Premier’s office. He
was one of the first members of what we termed at that time as COVID -19 Response Task Force. At that time
he would have been 22 years old. He was a pleasant
young man. And I was very, very saddened to hear
about his untimely passing and as I did mention, I did
have the opportunity to reach out to his family and pass
along my condolences directly.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Tucker.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
I will start with condolences as well. I just want
to express condolences to Gina Spence- Virgil and her
family on the passing of her brother, Gary, who I will
admit I did not know well but I did know him from my
Disco 40 days. So, we did have a good time at Disco 40
and Gary was a good part of that. So, I do want to express sincere condolences to, as I said, Gina and her family.
I do have a point of congratulations and I will
join Minister Darrell with this because . . . he must have
150 29 February 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate forgotten. I am sure he has. I want to express congratulations to the Leopards Club on their 75th anniversary.
Minister Darrell and a few other Members from the
other place, as well as I was there, and another OBA
team member was there as well. And we had a really good time celebrating the Leopards Club. I was . . . I
actually . . . it was very personal for me. I will put it that
way. The Leopards Club has a very long history as many of us already know. And for me it is especially personal. My grandfather w as a member before he
passed away. Several of my uncles, as well as my mother [who] is a current member of the Leopards
Club. And as a child I went to Delwood and had to walk
over and I spent a little bit of time in Leopards Club
while my grandfather was at the bar, or in the card
room.
[Laughter]
Sen. Robin Tucker: And so, all of the older generation,
in particular, would know . . . would have known me
well. And I did hear when it was mentioned in the other place from one of the Members there, that he too had
spent some time over at the Leopards Club. He said he
had one of his birthday parties on the lawn and he also mentioned that h is grandfather (I believe) was a barber,
sort of along the stretch between Delwood and Leop-ards. And as a child, obviously I did not know, but his grandfather, the children . . . I was one of the m, probably one of the team leaders, that would stop by that bar-ber shop and his grandfather would give us candy and snacks. So that was also another sort of really good
place to stop on the way over to Leopards Club. It was
a really fantastic event. Very enjoyable event. And I wish them endless, endless anniversaries.
The Leopards Club is very important to not only
to the community but it has been important to Bermuda, and in particular to Black Bermudians. So, again, I want
to say congratulations to them. And it is fantastic to see
that there are so many younger people who have taken
over the mantle to continue Leopards Club and its leg-acy. So, congratulations to them.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Yes, Senator De Couto. Doctor Douglas
De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
Unfortunately today I have two o bits that are
quite close to home. One is quite personal. I would just like to send my condolences to my brother -in-law, Richard Hartley, on the passing of his father, John; to his
mother, Margaret; to his whole family; to his father’s grandchildren; and most especially my niece and
nephew, Lila and Nate. That is very close to home,
Madam President. Also, a little up the hill, but I wanted to send my
condolences to Mrs. Gw en Fah y on the passing of her
husband, Mike. I grew up down the hill from the Fa hy
boys and I used to go up the hill and say, Hey, Mr. and
Mrs. Fa hy, can they come out to play? And Mr. Fah y,
and we have heard in another place about his commitment and input into this Island of Bermuda, but what I
remember is how he would eye us up and down and
say, Well, you have got to help them with their chores
if you want to play with them. And he would come
across quite serious like that. But he had a wicked dry sense of humour. He was always good for a laugh. He
had great advice.
And you know, a real testament to him, if you
know his children, you will know Michael Fahy as a former Senator from this place, Madam President, and
then his brother Stephen is a former Olympian swimmer for Bermuda. So that is clearly a testament . . . obviously of course to their mother and of course their
now recently deceased father. And I send my condolences out to Mrs. Fahy. She will always be Mrs. Fahy to me. The whole family, Stephen and Michael [and] the
grandchildren.
So, thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Yes, Senator Tucker wants to be associated
with the condolences for the Fahy family. I will associ-ate myself having worked with him here in the Senate.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Emily Dill, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam
President.
I would like to take the time first of all to associate myself with the condolences that were offered for Mr. Antoine Brangman, the father of MP Jache Adams ,
and certainly I would like to send condolences to the entire Brangman family. As I reflected on Antoine . . .
Antoine and I attended elementary school together. But
he will be deeply missed because he has been that person who over the years has ensured that those ties that
were formed way back then would continue to be held together by the many events he would hold for members of the class , and he was just an exceptional individual, humble. He had great respect for all of humanity. May he rest in peace and the family be comforted
by the memory and the legacy that he has left behind.
I would also like to offer condolences to the
family of Mrs. Mary Basde n. Mrs. Basd en is from St.
George’s , but she is a woman who has made an impact
throughout this Island. And in particular, the work that
she has done with women in crisis. And certainly, just
like . . . in reflecting on both of these individuals today,
Mrs. Basd en is the mother of one of my close friends.
And so she has always been that figure that will share
words of encouragement, give wise counsel, and she
will be deeply missed not only by the St. George’s community but by the entire Bermuda community.


Bermuda Senate I would like to offer congratulatory remarks to
the Paget Primary School. Last week in honour of Black
History Month they had what I am made to understand,
this is their 6th annual Black History Museum in which
the entire school is transformed into a museum that celebrates the history of our people, and in particular individuals in the Bermuda community. This year in particular our first female Commissioner of Prisons, Keeva
Joell-Benjamin, was highlighted in her room. And Dr.
Dorothy Matthews Paynter who is now, I believe, 102
years old. She was actually present along with the other
honourees.
There was a room for the Honourable Dr. Neletha Butterfield. The former Speaker of the House, the
Honourable K. Randolph Horton. There was even the
Lions Lounge, their school mascot is the lion, and they
had a lounge where they celebrated the arts and in par-ticular, they celebrated the work of Gita Blakeney Saltus.
There was a room for Mrs. Cathy Bassett. And
I may not have captured them . . . yes, there was a
room for Canon Francis, and when you walked around
the room you saw the different robes that he wore at
the different stages of his journey from an acolyte to
him becoming a rector and canon in the Anglican
Church.
So, I want to celebrate and congratulate the
Paget Primary family . The museum is now closed for
this year. But I want to encourage every one of us here
and the community at large that when next year comes
to make sure that you go to the Black History Museum at the Paget Primary School.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Dill.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Leslie Robinson, you have the floor.

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I too want to share in the condolences for the
Brangman family and , in particular , for MP Jache Adams. I also want to share in the condolences for the Basden family.
I also wish to congratulate . . . I have a couple
of congratulatory remarks. Firstly, I would like to congratulate a young man. He is Philip Burgess, Jr., the
son of Philip Burgess and the grandson of Noris Burgess, who many will know is a stalwart in the Hamilton
Parish community. Young Phil ip Burgess is a designer ,
and he has a clothes apparel line. And just recently
those who would be familiar with the NBA, the National
Basketball Association, they had their all -star break
and their all -star weekend and many who follow will certainly enjoy the Saturday night where they do the 3 -
Point competition and also the Slam Dunk competition.
Well, that particular night there was one NBA player who was actually wearing a track suit, or a sweatsuit
that was made by Mr. Philip Burgess. So we want to congratulate him because his apparel line is now going
international. So, we congratulate him.
And also, as part of the AME Church, I would
like to say congratulatory remarks to the Bermuda Con-ference Lay [Organisation] and in particular the First
District Lay Organisation. They held their meeting here
in Bermuda last week and it was an excellent meeting
with wonderful workshops. So we would like to congrat-ulate the Bermuda Conference Lay President, Mr. Anthoni Lightbourne, as well as the First District Lay Organisation President Cheryl Hammond Hopewell for such an excellent meeting. It was a job wel l done and
we thank those who were able to attend in person as well as those who shared online.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Hearing none, then I would just like to associate myself with the congratulations to the Leopards Club for the 75
th anniversary. Certainly my family and
many friends, I mean, with the 75th anniversary you
cannot help but know . . . and I have been to many activities there so congratulations to them for their 75th anniversary.
And I also would like to associate myself with
the congratulations to the Paget Primary School for all that they have done.
And I would like to associate myself with the
condolences given to the Fahy family. As I indicated, the son, Michael Fahy, was in the Senate and I would just like to associate myself with the condolences for
the family.
And also associate myself with the condolences for the Brangman family and Jache Adams ’ family. With that said, we will move on to adjournment .
Minister Owen Darrell, it is over to you.

ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
I want to thank you and the Opposition Senators as well for agreeing to come back at short notice
so that we can take care of this important work for the
people of Bermuda.
Now, Madam President, I do ask that the Senate adjourn until Wednesday, March 13. Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Minister.
Would any Senator care to speak on the motion to adjourn?
Hearing none, then I too would like to thank
each one of you Senators for agreeing to sit today with
us because it was an important request made by Minister Darrell. And I think, knowing that the Bill was
passed in the House, and it was important for us to
meet today and I want to thank each one of you to agreeing to sit today.
152 29 February 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate With that said, the Senate stands adjourned
until March 13, [2024].
Thank you.

[At 12:45 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday , 13 March 2024 .]