The Senate discussed summer job opportunities for the 53rd year of the Summer Day Camp Programme, which has about 180 positions available for people 18 and older with proper certifications. Minister Darrell announced that Bermuda Day Parade preparations are underway with 100 days remaining, and encouraged groups to sign up by April 19th and apply for funding through the Bermuda Day Fund. The main business was passing the Investment Business Amendment Act 2024, which updates regulations for investment businesses to meet international standards and strengthen the Bermuda Monetary Authority's oversight powers.
Summer employment opportunities for the Government's annual Summer Day Camp ProgrammeBermuda Day Parade preparations and the Culture Equals Energy themeInvestment Business Amendment Act 2024 to strengthen oversight of investment exchanges and clearing housesTribute speeches for recently deceased community members
Bills & Motions
Investment Business Amendment Act 2024 - passed all three readings unanimously. The bill modernizes oversight of investment exchanges and clearing houses, introduces new enforcement powers for the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and aligns Bermuda's regulations with international standards.
Notable Moments
Minister Darrell challenged Opposition senators to get their political party to participate in this year's Bermuda Day Parade
The Investment Business Amendment Act received unanimous support with no opposition debate
Several senators paid tribute to community members who recently passed away, including Olympic Association's Judy Simons
Sen. Rev. Dr. Emilygail A. Dill—as well as a CARIFTA champion. And many people knew Bessie. Her work and her contribution to sports has been highlighted in recent years, and she too will be missed. Another individual who has passed from labour to reward is Mr. Calvin Ming. He was a former Salvation Army officer, …
—as well as a CARIFTA champion. And many people knew Bessie. Her work and her contribution to sports has been highlighted in recent years, and she too will be missed. Another individual who has passed from labour to reward is Mr. Calvin Ming. He was a former Salvation Army officer, but he was also one who worked in the prison services. And he was very committed to work in addiction recovery and ensuring that Bermuda st ayed fully abreast. And he advocated for the implementation of many programmes that were able to help addiction addicts who were in recovery. I believe that he also served as President of the National Alcohol and Drug Agency and on many other boards. He represented Bermuda very well, and he will be missed. As I sit here today, I am just thinking about the many lives and those who have passed on. Another individual is Mr. Charles Simons. Many of you will remember him. If you ever went to Masters, he was one of the employees who would always go above and be-yond with a smile to be able to help you to find whatever it is that you wanted. No matter what department, you could ask Charles and he would find it for you. So, he too will be missed. And we offer our condolences to his family. Mr. Quinton Williams, who was a carpenter and one of the former Dockyard workers. He was an individual . . . I believe Mr. Williams was over 90 years of age. But he was also one . . . he was a member of our church, Allen Temple, and he was an individual who had loads of wisdom and will be deeply missed. Last but not least, I would like to offer condolences to the family of Ms. Melvina Robinson. She was a seamstress and tailor by trade. She and her brother, the late Honourable Stanley Morton, developed a business many years ago that served our community for a very long time. She was also a woman of wisdom, genuine love and support and encouragement to young people. And she will be deeply missed. On a happier note, I would like to congratulate the Ministry of National Security who very recently had the pleasure of welcoming eight new corrections offic-ers and four new customs officers to the Ministry of National Security and those respective depart ments. I had the opportunity to go to the passing out ceremony for the corrections officers and it was extremely heartwarming to see the family members who were there supporting and celebrating the significant milestone as these individuals stepped to the front to be a part of protecting and serving our people and ensuring that we have a safe community. So, we congratulate the Ministry of National Security, the Departments of Corrections and Customs and we certainly encourage other Bermudians who have a desire to serve this country to step forward and become a part of those teams. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Reverend Doctor Emily Dill. Would any other Senator care to speak? Senator Dwayne Robinson, you have the floor.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam President. I just wanted to do a congrats to Ms. Denise Carey and the Charity Home, her team and the steering committee for bringing forward their proposed plan to end homelessness. So, I feel like it is an extremely commendable initiative. I was able to sit and lis ten to her presentation and Ms. Carey’s passion for the tackling and ending of homelessness and even working with the homeless is to be commended. And her entire team seemed to be equally as passionate and have set 140 14 February 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Senate themselves in a nice location and have been able to begin the process of implementing their plan. And I would like to congratulate them and all [their] hard work and working in conjunction with Government and all other stakeholders in ensuring that this pl an comes to fruition and to encourage Bermudians to support them in that endeavour because homelessness affects all of us. So, thank you so much, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson. Would any other Senator care to speak? Minister Darrell, you have the floor. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I first and foremost would like to start on a sad note by offering condolences to a few families. First, the family of Mr. Roger Vanderpool. Mr. Vanderpool was laid to rest a few weeks ago. And I send condolences to his wife, Mrs. Barbara Vanderpool; his daughters, Marcia Bradshaw and Ms. Sherri Vanderpool. Mr. Vanderpool was part of my life growing up as a young man. He was good friends with my father. They used to work together on occasion at the old Tongue Gate. But his full -time profess ion was a prison officer. So, he did work with the Department of Corrections. And in his spare time . . . I do know that he was a sharp dresser, loved sharp cars and enjoyed the sport of tennis. And in his more recent years you would have seen Mr. Vanderpool as a taxi operator, servicing the tourists of this country. So, I want to send condolences to the fami ly Mr. Vanderpool. Also, yesterday . . . or Monday I believe it was, Ms. Phyllis Simons was laid to rest. Also affectionately known in our community as Aunt Twiggy. And if you would have known Ms. Simons, she was the god-mother to many in the community, as well as some of my prominent PLP colleag ues. She was very well known, very popular. And I would like to [send] condolences to her family members and all associated with her. And on a final sad note, I would like to send condolences to the family of Ms. Treamae Smith. I met Ms. Smith many years ago when I first entered the realm of education. She was an educator. And she also had many friends in education, so we spent some hours socialising, as educators tend to do, outside of the classroom. So, I was shocked to hear recently of her passing. And I [send] condolences to her family and her friends. On a positive note, and more happy note, Madam President, I would like to . . . and as always . . . and I would like to say this, there are always many achievements in the world of sports but I would just like to highlight these two individuals today. Ms. Caitlyn Bobb who is a sprinter. You would have known that Ms. Bobb was recognis ed last year at the Department of [Youth], Sport and Recreation’s Annual Sports Awards. And she recently set a new mark in the 500 metre in-door meet. And while, you know, the h eadline says that she had mixed feelings, I just want to tell her that we are behind her. Congratulations for the record. And we are looking for continued great things and success from Caitlyn in her sprinting pursuits. And also, Madam President, you would have seen yesterday that Ms. Emma Harvey is over in Doha. She is a swimmer, and she is breaking national records, as she has been doing for some time in recent times. Ms. Harvey was also recognised as an elite ath-lete by the Department [Youth], Sport and Recreation and she recently broke the national record at the world championships in Doha. So, we are looking forward to her as she, you know, . . . and other elite athletes in Bermuda get ready and get prepared to quali fy for the Olympics and put their best forward to represent Ber-muda in, not only the Olympic Games which are coming up this summer, but any other games [that] lead up to that. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell. Would any other Senator care to speak? No? Then hearing none, then I would just like to associate myself with the condolences that have been expressed by Reverend Doctor Emily Dill [for] Mr. Joseph Sinclair Richards, former Chief Education Officer. And also, to Mr. Calvin Roosevelt Ming, the former Salvation Army Band Leader and prominent drug addiction counsellor whom I had the opportunity and pleasure of working with in the 1970s and 1980s. I would also like to extend condolences to the family of Mrs. Birgitte Bitten Dill, the mother of Karin Johnson; Patrick and his wife, Kerry; as well as Bishop Nicholas Dill. And I had a fairly close relationship with her when she worked at King Edward [V II Memorial] Hospital, so I would just like to express condolences to the family. I would also like to express condolences to the family of Rodman Andicott Pearman Woolridge who just recently passed. I knew his sister, Debbie, who worked at the hospital, at MWI [ Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute ], for quite a number of years. He was . . . it is just sad because it was a sudden death on his part. I would also like to move on to congratulations. And so, I would like to on behalf of not only myself, but I am sure the entire Senate body, [to extend] congratulations to Chief Justice Larry Mussenden on his well - deserved appointment as Chief Justice of Bermuda. I would also like to extend congratulations to the Bermuda College on their articulation agreement with Troy University in Alabama. This was organised by MP Kim Swan who had attended the University years ago and who was ably supported by the US Consul General in Bermuda, Consul Karen Grissette. A dinner reception for the visitors was held by them at the home of former Justice Norma Wade- Miller.
Bermuda Senate And on a final note of congratulations, I would . . . and you will have to bear with me on this because I think it is important when people are recognised for what they do in the community. And so, congratulations are extended to the Somerset Cricket Club for their recognition of 10 women in the Somerset are a last week. And these included . . . and bear with me because I would like to acknowledge each of them. So the first one is Matilda Baxter, who is posthumously . . . she had a restaurant business in So merset and so they recognised her; Anita Cross for education; Rose Hart for sports and softball; Izola Harvey for the Progressive Group; Sheryl Martins for the Pharmacy and HM Customs work that she did; Myrtle Perinchief for the community; Lucinda Pearman for public service; Lyn ette Raynor for her religion; and Gloria Smith for her restaurant business; and Cec ille Snaith-Simmons (a good friend of mine) for nursing; and finally, the Honourable Kim Wilson for her work in politics. So, all of these women then were recognised, and I would just like to congratulate Somerset Cricket Club for doing that for them. And with that we come to the final item on our agenda. Minister Darrell, it is over to you.
ADJOURNMENT
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President. And shall I dare say we had a quick session today.
The President: We certainly did.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: I would like to ask that this Senate be now adjourned until Wednesday, March 13.
The President: Thank you. Would any Senator care to speak on the motion to adjourn? Yes, Senator Robin Tucker, Opposition Leader [in the Senate]. You have the floor.
PROBATE APPLICATION PROCESSING DELAYS
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President. Actually, I will be very short. I really just want to talk about something we saw in the headlines last sum-mer. And that has to do with the excessively long probate delays leaving beneficiaries waiting. So, unless I missed it, Madam President, we have seen no update on the progress that has been made to improve the processing times for probate applications. And at last report, processing those probate applications was well over a year behind, and the key reason that has been identified was that it was due t o staffing shortages. And so, it would be good to know whether there has been any steps to address those staffing shortages in terms of hiring and also training people in order to bring about improvements and speeding up the processes for pro-cessing the probate applications. As I understand it, currently processing probate applications could take anywhere between 12 and 18 months. And from what I understand, that is relatively average. Whereas some time ago it was around nine months, which is still a long time but certainly not as bad as 12 to 18 months. So, I wanted to talk about that in particular because I am looking at it more so from the point of view of how the families will be feeling. Imagine a spouse makes a will and they are doing it to ensure that after their passing that the surviving spouse is taken care of when they pass away. And certainly, if the deceased spouse’s name is on everything—the house, the bank accounts and so on —how then does the surviving spouse . . . let’s say the surviving spouse has a young family. How are they to pay school fees and things when they cannot access the funds in the bank accounts and things? And then also when we consider seniors who, again, the spouse has passed away, the dad has passed away, the name of the house in that deceased spouse’s name and the bank accounts, how do the sen-iors then survive day to day and meet their other financial c ommitments? So looking at it from the families point of view, Madam President, again, I have to wonder whether any attempts or . . . maybe I should I be asking what attempts have been made to do the staffing, to bring up those staffing levels, to get the t raining done so that we can reduce some of the suffering and the burdens that families are having to bear as a result of these delays? And again, I think that the matter needs to be looked at through the eyes of those most affected, those surviving family members. A 12- to 18- month wait time is quite ridiculous. And the impact to those families having to wait . . . and in some cases there have been indications that families have had to wait a couple of years. And frankly, that is unacceptable. We should as a country, in my mind, feel embarrassed that we have such extensive lead times and that we allow families who experience loss already t o go through further suffering by delaying the probate process. So, Madam President, with that I want to say that we can and we need to do better. So, I would look forward to at some point there being an update as to where things are and hopefully that update speaks to significant improvements being made. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker, Opposition Leader [in the Senate]. Would any other Senator care to speak on the motion to adjourn? Senator Dwayne Robinson, you have the floor.
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Bermuda Senate EMIGRATION AND THE POPULATION CRISIS
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam President. And I too will be brief. As we know in Bermuda we have a very serious population crises, and it is not something that has just happened overnight. It is not laid at the feet of the particular Administration right now. It has been something that is tracked back and has been progressing for a long time. But I believe we need to be the generation that puts a stop to it and actually gets up and tries to mitigate this crisis. And I think it needs to stay at the forefront of our minds because it affects everythi ng from entrepreneurship to the local economy. We all have heard numerous people speak on the population crisis and what has caused it. But the part that I would like to focus on today is emigration — and that is with an “e” not an “i.” I know [with] my thick accent sometimes I say “i” instead of “e” but . . . Emigration is the portion that I would like to focus on. And for us to have an 8,000 person hole in our working population and with Britain’s 2021 census saying that there are 5,821 usual residents of England that were born in Bermuda is something that I t hink should trigger us to want to do more robust research, more robust polling of our people who are leaving and, you know, those who are at risk of leaving as well. For us to say we have a hole numbering 8,000 in our working population, and we are not really polling who is leaving, that 8,000 number could balloon if, let’s say, 2,000 Ber-mudians move away in the next two to five years. I think we need to be more robust in our tracking of Bermudians who are departing and see if we can get some more communication and more connection with the diaspora that is overseas because we have seen them come to our aid on previous occasions with someone like Dr. Carika Weldon who came back during COVID -19 who was overseas and had expertise that could help the Island. So, I feel like, you know, it was something that was a departure for them that used to be done. I am not sure if that is still done, so correct me if I am wrong if it is. But the more data we can collect on our people who are overseas, and working with our overseas partners and jurisdictions to figure out how many Bermudians are in Canada, are in the UK, are in America and see if we could cater repatriation efforts to them, because we do not really know why they left. This is an issue that is talked about frequently in the community of people moving away, people up and going to England, whole families moving away but we do not really have the specifics as to why people have moved. We are assuming. And I think it would help if we knew how many of our people were overseas, what percentage of them are students, what per-centage of them are retirees. That would help us cater our repatriation efforts, because if we have a population of people overseas who are students, and we know, let’s say, the diaspora is 10,000 or 20,000 Bermudians, and we know 5,000 of them are students, we could be targeting those students with repatriation efforts and job placement efforts to bring them back after they have finished their degree. So, it is just little things that Government could be doing in this space to not only look to reform immigration, to bring other people outside of Bermuda back, but also focus on emigration so that we know where our people are and where we can draw that resource from. Right now, when they go away, they rarely have any connection to Bermuda. There are no absentee ballots for people who may still have homes here, who may still have parents here. You know, it is no registration for them so that would be a quic k way for us to tell how many people are still invested in Bermuda overseas and how many of our people are still looking at what is happening in this Island and how we can entice those folk to come back. So, it is just a matter of us assessing problems and putting out numbers without any real statistics, any real insight into those problems to actually effectively address them. Right? So, to me this transcends politics or any particular party. It is the future of our Island. It is the future of our children. And all of us in the Chamber hear these things when we canvass. We hear it when we are out. We hear about folks moving away when we go to get our groceries. So, it is not a matter of not knowing what is happening, or accepting what is happening. To the Government’s credit they have accepted that we have a population crisis, but [there] is no way we can address that if we are not even sure how many people are leaving or what amount of people are leaving and how frequently they are going. So, for me, I just would call on us to put together a robust framework, as an Island. So, let’s even take the party out of it. As an Island we need to put together a robust framework of tracking when our folks are moving overseas, who is overseas, and when we go we can then interact and set up various functions in America and Canada for that diaspora and maybe, just maybe, if we can pull back even 10 per cent of our people, it will be 10 per cent more than we had yesterday. Right? So, I also support and echo the calls I heard from home with the housing inventory. And the inventory of our derelict buildings , because that is also a big percentage of why our people are emigrating. And if we can have a housing stock then that we know to address our housing crisis. Right now, again, Government is at-tempting to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but it is not really . . . it is not going to benefit the Island if we are not working toward a goal that is backed by numbers and things that actuall y exist. So, I just wanted to highlight that if we continue to politicise it, if we continue to dig our heels in the sand and watch, as we have watched for several generations, this problem persist, I believe that we may reach a point, as the Minister of Economy and Labour has already stated, of unsustainability in our Island. And that
Bermuda Senate is something that I know all of us would hope to prevent, even if we do have ideological differences. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Dwayne Robinson. Would any other Senator care to speak on the motion to adjourn? Hearing none and seeing none, then, Senators, we have come to the end of our session, and we will meet again on March 13. The Senate stands adjourned. Thank you for your presence and work this morning.
[At 11:23 am, the Senate stood adjourned until 10:00 am, Wednesday , 13 March 2024 .]
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