December 13, 2023

Yes. Go ahead.

FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY AUDITED
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEARS
ENDED MARCH 31, 2021, 2022, 2023

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I
hereby present for the information of the Senate the Financial Intelligence Agency Audited Financial Statements for the years ended March 31, 2021, 2022 and
2023 .
Senators may access copies of the statements
on their tablets and website.

The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.

NOTICE S OF MOTION S
The President: There is one notice of motion, and that
is in the name of Senator Leslie Robinson, the Junior
Minister for Economy and Labour.
58 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Senator Robinson, you have the floor.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (DESIGNATION OF
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ZONE) (SOUTH
EAST HAMILTON) ORDER 2023

Sen Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I hereby present for the consideration of Senate the Economic Development (Designation of Economic Empowerment Zone) (South East Hamilton) Order 2023 , proposed to be made by the Minister responsible for the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation in exercise of the power conferred by section 2A
of the Economic Development Act 1968. And I give notice that at a later point in the meeting I will move that
the said draft Order be approved.

Thank you, Senator Robinson.

PETITIONS
The President: There are none.

STATEMENTS
The President: We have one Statement, and that is in
the name of the Minister, Senator the Honourable
Owen Darrell, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
Minister, you have the floor.

COMMUNITY HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, my Statement this morning
is going to be about community and holiday celebra-tions.
Madam President, I am pleased to announce
the success of three excellent programmes brought to
life by the Department of Culture in the month of December for the benefit of the entire community.
First, Madam President, allow me to shine a
spotlight on the Bermudian Heartbeats lecture series .
“What Seeds Will Grow? The Future of Farming in Ber-muda” was featured as the topic for the 10
th annual Dr.
Pauulu Kamarakafego Memorial Lecture. On Saturday December 2, attendees embarked on a tour that traversed a total of six farms nestled in the lush landscapes
of Devonshire and Paget parishes. This immersive
event delved into the rich history of agriculture in Bermuda, unveiling a narrative intricately wov en with our
heritage of racial and social justice. The discussions
about sustainable agriculture were not just enlightening but also served as a roadmap to a greener, more equitable future.
Madam President, our esteemed speakers including Chris Faria from AgraLiving and James Tucker of Tucker ’s Farm generously shared their expertise, enlightening us on various aspects of agriculture. Notably, James Tucker's demonstration on crafting cheese from
goats ’ milk left a lasting impression on all. Additionally,
the insightful tour of the National Trust farm, Devondale, provided a deeper understanding of our agricultural legacy, enriching our connection to the land. It is
important to highlight the es sential role of agriculture in
the building of the natural heritage that is Bermuda.
Madam President, I am also very pleased to
announce the newest addition to our holiday celebra-tions. The Bermudian Heartbeats ’ offerings continued
this past Saturday, December 9, with the Carol ing
Through the Parishes concert series. This collaboration
with the Royal Bermuda Regiment [ Band] and the Salvation Army Band has been a symphony of holiday
cheer. The performances at Death Valley Playground
in Southampton Parish and the Rubber Tree in Warwick Parish filled the air with melodies that evoked the warmth of the holiday season.
Madam President, the upcoming performances
scheduled for this Saturday, December 16, at Parson’s
Road Playground in Pembroke Parish at 3:00 pm,
Shelly Bay Park in Hamilton Parish at 4:00 pm, and the
Town Square in St. George’s at 5:00 pm promise to be
magical. The finale, which is on December 23 at
5:00 pm and will be hosted on the grounds of Cabinet
Office, is anticipated to be a fitting conclusion to this new concert series —a musical celebration not to be
missed! The public should know that these perfor-mances are free. So , bring a chair and enjoy.
Lastly , Madam President, the Culture Department ’s “Eggnog & Dialogue” mixer on December 5
served as a gesture of gratitude to our invaluable stake-holders. Now in its second year, this event provided a warm and relaxed setting for artists, creatives and
those passionate about heritage to connect over conversation, collaboration and seasonal refreshments. It
is these connections, these informal conversations that
often spark the most brilliant ideas and collaborations.
This celebration of unity and appreciation for our cultural custodians and contributors embodied the true essence of community spirit.
Madam President, as we enjoy these events
during the holiday season, let us remember that this is a time of compassion, unity and generosity. Let us extend our hands to those in need, embracing the ethos
of giving and support. Cherish the moments spent wi th
loved ones and spread kindness, illuminating the lives of those around us. To all the creatives working tirelessly in our cultural and heritage sectors, your dedication and passion enrich our lives more than words can
express.
Madam President, I also extend my heartfelt
appreciation to the hardworking public servants who have brought these initiatives to fruition. Ms. Catherine
Hay, whose leadership as the Chair of the Heartbeats
Committee has been instrumental in steering these events toward success. Equally commendable is the
dedication of Ms. Carlita Lodge, the project lead for
“Eggnog & Dialogue. ”


Bermuda Senate In conclusion, Madam President, let us carry
forward the spirit of these program mes, nurturing our
cultural heritage, fostering connections and embracing
the joy of giving. May this holiday season be adorned
with love, unity and moments that warm our hearts and souls. Wishing you all a season filled with happiness,
peace and abundant bl essings. Happy holidays!
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Owen Darrell,
Government Leader in the Senate.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
The President: There are none.

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

BERMUDA IMMIGRATION AND PROTECTION
(PROHIBITION ORDER) AMENDMENT ACT 2023
The President: The following public Bill, the Bermuda
Immigration and Protection (Prohibition Order) Amendment Act 2023, has been received from the Honourable House of Assembly and is read for the first time.

FIRST READING OF PRIVATE BILLS
The President: There are none.

QUESTION PERIOD

The President: Senators, we will entertain questions
first on the Statement that has been read before we
move into the questions that were submitted.
Senator Tucker, OBA Leader [in the Senate] ,
you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: COMMUNITY HOLIDAY
CELEBRATIONS
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
And again, good morning to you, my Senate colleagues , and to the listening audience. Thank you to
the Minister for bringing this Statement. I would like to really commend him and his team for such a wonderful
initiative.
My question is just a general one. I just wanted
to know if they had plans to extend this public initiative to maybe other holidays or if anything else is on the
horizon that we can look out for?
Thank you, Madam President.

[Pause]

The President: Minister Darrell, there was a question
put for you by Senator Tucker
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you. Thank you,
Madam President.
In regard to if we can extend it, I would like to
just reiterate what I said in the Statement. This is an
initiative that is done with the Bermuda Regiment, as
well as the Salvation Army. They have been partners of
the Department of Culture for some time. As we also
know in everything that we do, sometimes there are
budget constraints. So, we are in discussions with the
Bermuda Regiment as to how we can collaborate even more and get more out of, you know , the budget that
we actually have to offer.
So, it is kind of a two -part answer. The answer
is yes, we would like to see more collaboration through-out the year. You know, the Regiment for years used to
do the Beating the Retreat [Ceremony]. And I remem-ber when I was growing up it used to be every singl e
Wednesday, I believe. Now Beating the Retreat is kind
of less frequent. So we are in discussions with the Bermuda Regiment Band , and we will come up with a
unique way where we can highlight the Regiment and
what they offer to the culture of Bermuda, going forward
throughout the year.
So, thank you.

The President: Would any Senator care to ask questions on the Statement?
Hearing none, then we will move on. There is
a series of questions that required . . . sorry , there were
Parliamentary Questions presented by Senator
Dwayne Robinson that require answers this morning.
And, Senator Robinson, I would like for you to
read your questions that you had presented. Have you
got them there? These are for the Minister to respond to.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Okay. No problem. Good
morning, all. Good morning, listening public.
Would you like for me to read them all at once
or just one at a time?
The President: Read the first one.

QUESTION 1: SPECIAL ADVISOR ON MIDDLE
EAST STRATEGIES

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Okay.
With respect to the Government c onsultant Ms.
Alexia Hefti, would the Honourable Minister please inform the Senate as to what benchmarks and delivera-bles are being used to measure the success of the c onsultant in her role as Special Advisor on the Middle
Eastern Affairs and Policy?

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, as has been stated before,
Ms. Hefti is a lawyer. And she has been hired by the
Government on a 12- month contract to advance the full
60 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate scope of opportunities presented in the region, particularly as it is in line with our economic development strategy.
Ms. Hefti’s engagement has already yielded
positive relations to advancing our relationship with the
Emirates Family Office. A memorandum of understanding was signed when the Premier visited Abu Dahbi last
week on behalf of the Minister of Economy and Labour.
Bermuda must advance in a strategic and targeted
way, Madam President, building relationships with a region that values the very business environment that has made a successful, trusted jurisdiction for investment and trade locally.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister.
Senator Robinson, you have a second question, unless you had a—
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Just a brief supplemental to
the first one.
The President: To the first, to his answer then?

SUPPLEMENTARY
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Yes.
So, I heard an overarching objective and some
deliverables as far as, you know, what she , the consultant, has accomplished. But I was really hoping to hear
a bit more about the benchmarks when she was actually brought on that the Government was looking to
achieve as far as actual laid- out benchmarks of success. If I could get just a slightly more detailed answer
if possible.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I
would suggest this answer: Go on to the second question and [the Senator] might get to the answer to respond to what he is looking for.
The President: Senator Robinson, you did present a
second question for oral answer this morning. So, you
can proceed with that second question.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Okay. No problem. Thank
you, Madam President.

QUESTION 2: SPECIAL ADVISOR ON MIDDLE
EAST STRATEGIES
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Would the Honourable Minister please inform the Senate as to what specific developments or policy the Special Advisor has been able
to contribute to or to progress the strengthening of Bermuda’s competitiveness and economic opportunities in
the Middle East since her appointment in April?
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Ms. Hefti has done quite a bit since her appointment. And I will go through and list all of the spe-cific developments that she has been able to contribute to during her time since April. The first is an FDI [foreign
direct investment] strategy and coordination. Ms. Hefti
is not only focused on the Middle East but has contributed to our foreign direct investments globally. She developed a strategy for the Middle East market based on
the collaborative fore ign direct investment opportunities
and aligned them with the Economic Development
Strategy.
Ms. Hefti has also assisted other ministers and
organisations in their Middle East strategies and meetings, undertook a base- level analysis to determine the
basis for the FDI in the Gulf Corporation Council region,
namely, the tripartite investment suite related to the . . .
[Ms. Hefti] drafted an alternative legal instrument which
was circulated for a strategic internal discussion. She
drove the strategy and creation of the first investment
brochure outlining renewable energy opportunities ,
which was used at COP28; coordinated interviews with
several Ministry representatives to compile data for a
brochure that w as outside of the scope of her duties,
but it was undertaken in order to carry out the Govern-ment’s COP28 work.
[Ms. Hefti] provided assistance on the economic cooperation discussion and prepared speaking
points and strategies for meeting the various Africa n
Union members. She has also been part of communication and representation, drafting speaking points for
meetings related to Jordan, Qatar and the UAE [United Arab Emirates] including global meetings attended by
the Premier and Representative Mr. Anthony H owell.
She prepared speeches, media releases, talking points
for various initiative including those in the Mi ddle East;
organised all meetings in the UAE; brought a delegation from the UAE to the Ministry of Economy to Bermuda for the Bermuda Climate Summit, which was
within two months of her appointment.
[Ms. Hefti ] made herself available for panels,
presentations; spoke on behalf of the Government in
various forums; also took part in cross -ministry collaborations and Family Office announcements; assisted
the Ministry of Economy and Labour in their launch of
the new Family Office framework including by initiating
discussions with the Emirates Family Office Association.

[Pause]

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Sorry.
[Ms. Hefti] facilitated discussions with the Bermuda Business Development Agency to organise delegation visits; decarbonation and environmental initiatives—coordinated and collaborated with the Ministry of
Transport to organise the Government’s announceBermuda Senate ment to fully decarbonise their fleet; coordinated meetings for the Government to engage in qualification for a
$1 billion fund for decarbonation; prepared and coordinated the work for the Foundation for the Fleet Decarbonisation announcement including draft texts and speaking points; lined up the Premier’s Dubai TV announcement, as well as the Deputy Premier’s podcast
with Bloomberg.
Other stuff that she has done comes under the
category of media and public relations: coordinated
media appearances including the Deputy Premier’s podcast on Bloomberg; prepared press releases,
speaking points for a number of visits. Also event coordinati on, delegation management; organised meetings
pursuant to the UAE including with government officials with no diplomatic support provided until last week before COP28; brought a delegation from UAE Ministry to Bermuda, coordinating visits for investment opportunities on the Island. Also, she took part in public and private sector engagement s, engaged in strategic discussions with public and private entities in the Middle East,
providing valuable insight and data.
I could go on, Madam President. But I think the
Senator has more questions.
The President: Yes. Also, other Senators could ask
questions on what has already been stated.
Senator Tucker, you have a question?

QUESTION 1: SPECIAL ADVISOR ON MIDDLE
EAST STRATEGIES

Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you to the Minister for providing such a
comprehensive list about the matters that Ms. Hefti has
been involved in.
I am curious, because from what I recall she is
on a one- year contract , and as that contract is due to
expire in April, given that the list of things that she has
been engaged in is so long I would like to know whether
discussions have begun to extend her contract, assuming that there is a lot more for her to do? Or will her
contract come to an end in April, assuming with that long list that she has checked off all of her objectives
and deliverables?
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Minister.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Well, Madam President,
I would just like to say that what we have here is the
One Bermuda Alliance trying to score political points.
And it is simply political posturing.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Madam President. Point of order,
please.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: I did not answer the
question, Madam President. I am getting there.

What is your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Imputing improper motive]

Sen. Robin Tucker: The Minister is imputing improper
motive. We are not trying to make political points. This is a general question that certainly the public would like to know, given that their taxpaying dollars are being
paid to someone for $240,000 a year.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Ah!
[Crosstalk]

Sen. Robin Tucker: Certainly they would want to know
if the contract is going to be extended.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Oh, at this point I thought
that the reason —and that is why I came with such a
comprehensive list —is that the One Bermuda Alliance
actually wanted to know what Ms. Hefti was doing. And
I thought that the questions were coming because they
were concerned with the type of investment that the
Bermuda Government is making over in the region.
But since we want to go there, it is important
that I remind the Senator that when the One Bermuda Alliance was in Government they went over to the region—yes, they did !—and they made zero investment
in the region. None whatsoever. So, what that is called
. . . and I think we have a Senator who sits in here today
who likes to call that “ political jaunts. ” And if we want to
talk about how much Ms. Hefti is making, she is making considerably less than what the One Bermuda Alliance
paid Cheryl Packwood in Washington, DC, all those
years.
So while I was very much prepared to bring
what she is doing and the investment that she is bringing to this country, Madam President, it would be re-miss of me if I did not remind the One Bermuda Alliance
Senate Leader what the One Bermuda Alliance did not
do over in the Middle East and how much they did pay
to Ms. Cheryl Packwood when she was working in Washington, DC. Stark contrast between what the Progressive Labour Party Government is doing and what
the One Bermuda Alliance Government did not do!
The President: Minister —
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: So, we can ask about
hypotheticals. I am still answering the question, Madam President. We can ask about hypotheticals, and they
are going to ask about the future. But those matters,
62 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Madam President, will be handled in what we call the
budget session, which takes place around February
and March. And I am sure the Senate Leader of the
One Bermuda Alliance surely knows that.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister.
I did see a hand from Senator Robinson . . . do
you wish to pose your question at this stage?

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Third question ?

The President: This is his —

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Supplemental to the second
one.
So, it was an exhaustive list of her responsibilities and things that the consultant has done, Ms. Hefti.
The President: Mm-hmm.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: What I did not quite hear,
and I was hoping if the Minister could condense that for
us, is the actual deliverables that had come out of
those. Because I mean for the listening public, they are
hearing a list of things that the consultant has done. But
just for the application of the—
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Those are deliverables,

If he could condense just
down to the deliverables that we got and the benchmarks that the consultant actually met, that would help, just for the listening public.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Let me break it down for
him real quick. He can go back and listen to the tape
later as to all of the things that I did [say] to answer his
question. Now he wants me to summarise for him.
Good thing, Madam President, as I told you a couple of
weeks ago, I used to be an educator. So, I can do that very well for him. Here we go:
The key point is this, that we have started making relationships over in the Middle East, and these re-lationships are continuing. We are at the onset of this
engagement, and Ms. Hefti’s work is our focus. And she
has already proven to be valuable in the r egion, and
Bermuda is seeking to solidify a standing for our economic benefit. Now, our Government has a clear Economic Development Strategy. And we are working
closely with the technical officers, and she is working
closely with the Minister of Economy an d Labour.
Here is a summary. This is the headline: We
are forging a new relationship for economic advance-ment and diversification. And it is all aligned with our
economic strategy. So, it is pretty clear what [Ms. Hefti] is doing. And it is very important that what is needed in
Bermuda at this time is economic diversification. So, I
would ask him once again to stop the political posturing
and move on to his third question, respectfully, Madam
President.

The President: Before we do that, I would just like to
call on Senator De Couto, who had a supplementary
question.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Thank you, Madam President. I do indeed have a supplemental to the second
question. And before I state the question, I am just going to set a little context for the Minister because I would
like to help guide him in producing the most effective answer.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Respectfully, point of order.

The President: Senator De Couto—
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: “Guide”?
The President: —I called on you to ask for your question. So please ask your supplemental question.

Yes, ma’am.
Does the Government have an estimate of the
financial benefit of this for the people of Bermuda? And
if it does have such an estimate . . . for example, if they
were to hire this person, there would have been a business case and perhaps some numbers presented. If
they do have such an estimate, can they provide a timeline of when the people of Bermuda might enjoy such
financial benefits? And if they do not, it will suffice, I
suspect, for him just to say they do not have such a
financial estimate.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Minister Darrell.
[Pause]

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I will
reiterate one more time that the engagement of Ms.
Alexia Hefti is about deliverables. International rela-tions is about developing relationships. We want deliverables. And what we have is the Emirates Family Office Association. So that is a clear deliverable, and I will
let Senator De Couto work out what that is worth to Bermuda. I am sure he is well aware.
The President: Senator Kiernan Bell, Vice President,
you have the floor.



Bermuda Senate SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen Kiernan Bell: Thank you, Madam President.
I have a supplemental question out of the list of
deliverables that the Minister gave that Ms. Hefti has been involved in. I believe I heard mention of Ms. Hefti’s
drafting an alternative legal instrument in the UAE. For
the listening audience, that is the UAE’s equivalent of a
Bill or an Act. So, I just wondered if the Minister could
give a little bit more detail on what that alternative legal
instrument was and how it advances Bermuda’s eco-nomic interests? Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Bell.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Unfortunately, Madam
President, I do not have those details at this time. I will
look to get it and send it over to the Senator.

The President: Thank you, Minister.
We will move on then, Senator Robinson, to
your third and final question for which you requested oral answers today.

QUESTION 3: SPECIAL ADVISOR ON MIDDLE
EAST STRATEGIES

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you so much, Madam
President.
The third question would be, Would the Honourable Minister please inform the Senate as to why both the Premier/Minister of Finance and the Deputy
Premier needed to attend the 28
th Conference of Parties (COP 28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when we
have a Special Advisor on the Government payroll to
look out for Bermuda’s interests in the region?
[Pause]
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, the Premier and the Deputy
Premier travelled to the UAE for two separate and dis-tinct purposes. The Premier and Minister of Finance at-tended to support the Government’s business development objectives as in line with our Economic Development Strategy. The Deputy Premier, as Minister of
Home Affairs, attended to advance and represent our
environmental agenda and report on its advancement.
The Premier during his time in the UAE visited both Abu Dahbi and Dubai. In Abu Dahbi he attended Finance
Week. And in Dubai, he attended the 28
th session of
the Conference of Parties, more widely known as
COP 28 in Dubai.
Abu Dahbi Finance Week is a gathering of
global finance leaders featuring the leaders of most sig-nificant hedge funds, family offices, financial services
firms, regional regulators and high- level representatives from the UAE Government. During the Abu Dahb i Finance Week, a significant milestone was achieved with the signing of a memorandum of understanding
[MOU] with the Emirates Family Office, which the
Premier signed on behalf of the Minister of Economy
and Labour. The MOU advances Bermuda’s initiative to attract additional family offices of high net worth in
line with Government’s Economic Development Strategy.
Under the terms of the MOU, the EFOA [Emirates Family Office Association] will establish a physical
branch in Bermuda within the next 12 months. This commitment signifies the strengthening ties between
Bermuda and the Middle East both in the public and
private sectors. Furthermore, the Government anticipates family office designations from the Emirates Family Office Association to visit Bermuda next year.
Also while in Abu Dahbi, engagements with officials from the Mubadala Investment Company and
their headquarters as a follow -up to the informal discussions the Chairman of the Bermuda Public Funds Investment Committee, Mr. Barclay Simmons, and the Premier held with the Chairman and Managing Director
in March earlier this year. At this meeting representatives from Masdar were also present, where we outlined opportunities for renewable energy investment in
Bermuda and infrastructure investment opportunities
that were of interest to Mubadala.
COP28, which is the largest and most important environmental event of the year, is also a diplomatic event, where government leaders, business leaders, innovators, scientists and all gather in one location. This provided the opportunity for valuable meeti ngs,
both scheduled and unscheduled, that were of great benefit and emphasised the need for Government to
ensure that Bermuda was represented throughout the
duration of this annual meeting.
Business development meetings included engagements with Peter Abraam, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer of the International Holding Company,
the largest public company in UAE. IHC subsidiaries
hosted a presentation for Bermuda showcasing their
technology solutions for governments in digital health
and digital tax collection, which were appropriate given the recent announcements by the Honourable Member, the Minister of Health, and the forthcoming global minimum tax.
Further, the Premier attended a meeting with
the Executive Chairman of the DMCC, Mr. Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who is one of the largest real estate developers in Dubai responsible for the construction of Jumeirah Lakes Towers development, which consists
of 87 high- rise towers that make up the DMCC. And at
the invitation of HSBC, the Premier participated in a
session at COP28, which was attended by financial officials from Saudi Arabia, Germany and Singapore to
discuss the ESG [environmental, social and good gov-ernance] financing and investment strategies for countries.

64 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you —

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: I am not finished. I am
just making sure he listens. I mean, he asks these questions. I thought he was interested, Madam Presi-dent.

The President: Carry on, Minister.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you.
A final engagement of the Premier’s visit to the
UAE was a meeting with His Excellency, Dr. Thani bin
Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, where they held discussions related to the
advancement, the development of economic coop eration between the UAE and Bermuda, focusing on hos-pitality and infrastructure opportunities. During their dis-cussion they were able to advance the renewal agreement signed in 2015 between Bermuda and the UAE
and discuss the next steps for further agreements and
advance investment flows to the UAE. And that was just the Premier, Madam President.
The Deputy Premier also attended, and he participated in substantive climate and environmental dis-cussions held at COP28. He represented Bermuda as part of the UK Overseas Territories delegation, which
included all 14 Overseas Territories. This included participation and participating on discussion panels repre-senting Bermuda as well as the Overseas Territories.
Bermuda also carried the role of coordination of the
Overseas Territories present at COP28 to ensure key policy objectives were meant. The Deputy Premier
also, at the request of the Overseas Territories leaders and representatives, led official in- depth discussions
with the UK Government at COP28.
Among the engagements, the Deputy Premier
and Minister of Home Affairs spoke on the ministerial panel at the UK Pavilion at COP28 UAE, which was
chaired by Minister Graham Stuart, Minister of State for
Climate, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero,
which also led the UK delegation at COP28. The panel was entitled “On the front line: How are the UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies getting to
net zero, adapting to and dealing with the impacts of climate change?” Discussions focused on bei ng small
islands. The UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are on the front line of impacts of climate
change.
The event showcased the impact of climate
change in these territories, their progress, lessons learned and challenges we face in meeting net zero
and how they incorporate youth perspectives in policy -
making to ensure we can collectively meet our shared
ambitions on net zero and goals in the Paris Agreement.
The Deputy Premier highlighted that although
Bermuda will not adopt the Paris Agreement, we are committed to a net zero in the following priority areas: our integrated resource plan goal to decarbonise en-ergy generation to 85 per cent by 2035; decarbonise
public transport, commercial and private by 2035; make requisite planning building code provisions to decarbonise construction and raise commercial conservation and efficiency levels; embed conservation and efficiency into residential development; focus on better demand- side management amongst residents through an
effective future tree- planting policy spread over the Island for sustainable tree coverage.
Following the discussion panel, the Deputy
Premier and Minister Graham Stuart, who was compli-mentary of Bermuda’s accomplishments and global
leadership, not just among territories but across the region with our actions related to protect our climate, also
highlighted the need for innovation and driving the solutions of the future, reflecting on the community’s ex-perience with the deployment of offshore wind.
The Deputy Premier informed the audience,
We are beyond aspirational with innovation, and the Bermuda sandbox legislation demonstrates this. Bermuda’s leadership is exemplified with the carbon of
public transportation, rapid deployment of solar on government buildings, waste to energy and the deve lopment of the only waiver energy park in the region. Following the panel, the Deputy Premier led a meeting of
the Overseas Territories environment ministers and Minister Graham Stuart. Minister Stuart supported the
UK Government’s approach to a climate change fund
for the Overseas Territories. This will be explored
through the Treasury and Foreign Office.
Bermuda’s visit to the UAE surrounding
COP28 was a success, Madam President, marking sig-nificant achievements in Bermuda’s global partnerships
and our ongoing leadership in environment initiatives.
We forged new partnerships, strengthened existing relation ships and showcased Bermuda’s dedication to
sustainable development and climate action on the
global stage.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
Senator, do you have a supplemental?

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Yes, just one quick one.
Thank you, Madam President.
Just for my edification and those listening at
home, I just would like the Minister to briefly provide,
what support did Ms. Alexia have to provide during that
CO28?
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I am
not sure if the Senator missed it, but her support was clearly laid out in Question number 2. He can go back
and listen to that as well, Madam President.
Thank you.



Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Minister.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS

The President: We will move on. But before we do, I
would just like to acknowledge the presence of the Min-ister of Public Works, Lt. Col. the Honourable David Burch, who is in the Gallery.
And I would also like to welcome Permanent
Secretary Gina Hurst -Maybury, Permanent Secretary
in the Chamber.
Welcome to you both.
[Question Period, continuing]
The President: Now, Senators, we will move on to the
second set of questions that were presented by Sena-tor Dr. De Couto for which he required oral responses today.
And, Senator De Couto, if you would like to
pose your first question, please.

QUESTION 1: TRAVEL ITINERARY OF CABINET
MINISTERS

Thank you, Madam President.
Would the Honourable Minister please provide
the Senate with a list of all dates and destinations of travel by all Cabinet Ministers from 1 January 2022 to today that is not already listed on the G overnment
travel calendar published on [the website]
https://www.gov.bm/travel -calendar
inclusive of
COP28 in Dubai ?
Thank you, Madam President.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
As the Senator would know, this information is
already in the public domain. And it is interesting that in his question he referenced —

—and are not in the pub-lic domain. That is the point of the question. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: I have not finished the
answer, Madam President.
The President: Minister, you can carry on with your —
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you. Thank you,
Madam President.
As I was saying, the Senator can look on that
website which he referenced and see the travel of which he is requesting from January 1, 2022, to current. Now, the only ones that will not be there are the Premier’s current expenses of travel to COP28 as that
is still being put together by the hardworking public officers. He will see the Deputy Premier’s. As he would
know, or may not know, Ministers are definitely working hard with the work that they do serving the public. But all of what he asked for is on that website. Missing is the one most recent trip, which they just returned this
week.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister.
Senator De Couto, you have a second question for which you require an oral answer today. Would you like to pose your second question?

QUESTION 2: TRAVEL ITINERARY OF CABINET
MINISTERS

Thank you, Madam President.
For every trip in Question 1, which I believe
would be the Premier’s travel to COP28, if I understood
that correctly . . . for every trip in Question 1, would the
Honourable Minister please provide the Senate with the
full value of travel expenses and source of the funds ?
For trips currently underway (that is, COP28) or in the
process of being booked, please provide the budgeted
amount allocated and broken down into airfare, accom-modation, per diem costs, et cetera.
Thank you, Madam President.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
As I answered in Question 1, when those figures have been brought together, they will be made
available on www.gov.bm/travel -calendar
.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister.

Madam President, point
of order. That is not the question I asked. And I find it difficult to believe the Government does not know the cost of the Premier’s plane ticket to COP28 and his ho-tel travel. And I would respectfully request an answer to the ques tion.
Thank you, Madam President.

66 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I have
answered the question. Thank you.

The President: Senator De Couto, you can move on to
your third question.

So, for each trip in Question 1, would the Honourable Minister please inform the Senate of the purpose and outcome, including key
meetings and attendees ?
Now, I would stipulate that that has been answered. But because I did not know the outcome of
Question 1, I could not say ahead of time that that question would be answered. But I would stipulate that if it was okay with you and the Minister, that question was
answered by his prior, prior answers, Madam President.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President. And thank you to the Senator for pointing out that. I will go back to Question 2.
For the record, I will say it again. I do not know
if I made it clear. But I would like to defer some of the answers to the specifics of which Senator De Couto is seeking regarding COP28. He is absolutely right; the
Government does know and will know. When this information comes through, as soon as it is made available I will share it or it will be posted on the website as well.
I just wanted to make that clear.
The President: Thank you, Minister.
We will now move on to the third set of questions —
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Let me go one more
time. Can I go back to Question 1?
The President: You may, Minister. You may.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: So, what I did say in
Question 1 was that all travel could be seen on the government website. There is one Ministry that is not there,
and I would like to defer that question to Monday’s ses-sion when that one Ministry that is missing gets on the
website. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Minister.


1 See Official Hansard Report for response given on 18
December 2023 Sen. Dr. Douglas De Couto: Madam President, may I
have a supplemental to that since he has reopened the question, if you would allow it?
The President: Mm-hmm. You may ask your supplemental question, Senator De Couto.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Perhaps the Minister
could explain which Ministry it is and why they have not
updated the travel calendar? I am sure the people,
whose money is being spent on the travel, would appreciate to know.
Thank you, Madam President.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: The Ministry in question
is the Ministry of Finance. And I cannot speak to why it
has not been updated, but I will have it on Monday.

The President: Thank you, Minister.
Senators, we will now move on to the next item,
and that is the questions that Senator Tucker, OBA
Leader in the Senate, has posed for oral responses today from Senator Dill, who . . . I imagine the Minister
will respond to the questions.
So, Senator Tucker, would you like to pose
your first question?

Sen. Robin Tucker: Certainly. Thank you, Madam
President.
Would the Junior Minister —in this case, would
the Minister —

The President: Would the Minister . . .

1QUESTION 1: SEX OFFENDERS REGISTER —
NUMBER OF NON- BERMUDIANS RESIDENT
IN BERMUDA

Sen. Robin Tucker: Would the Minister please inform
the Senate as to the total number of non- Bermudians
who have served a term of imprisonment overseas for
sexual offences and have had their names added to the
Sex Offenders Register upon becoming resident in Bermuda between January 2013 and November 2023?
Thank you.
The President: Thank you.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, just
give me one second. A lot of questions this morning.
So, making sure I answer them all.

[Pause]



Bermuda Senate Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: All right. Unfortunately,
Madam President, this question is being worked on. It
requires a lot of research in jurisdictions here and over-seas by the very nature of “non- Bermudian.” We have
reached out to the Commissioner [of Police]. They are making some inquiries. And we are not readily available to answer this question.
It is important to note that if a non- Bermudian
is convicted and imprisoned overseas and later becomes a resident of Bermuda, authorities here may not be notified of that person’s specific offence. In any case, without having the actual numbers (and we ar e
looking into it), if there are any at all, the number would be very low. However, we are looking into that. They have pledged to make inquiries overseas and get more data on this matter.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Robin Tucker: Madam President, if I may, a supplementary to the Minister’s response?
I am just curious to know, why would they assume that the number would be low if they do not know what that total number is?
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Correct, Madam President. I do not know the number we are looking into it. Thank you.
The President: Thank you.
Senator Tucker, you would ask your second
question for which you required oral response today.
[Pause]
The President: Please ask the question.

Sen. Robin Tucker: All right. Thank you, Madam President.
The second question . . .
Sorry. Before I ask that question, because I
have additional questions as it relates to the first question, may I bring that question back to the Senate at
another point when the Minister has that information or
when the Junior Minister has that informati on? And if
so, is there any sort of timeline anticipated on when that number is going to be available?
The President: Senator Tucker, when he responds to
you, depending on what the response is, then you could be allowed a supplementary question at that time.


2Criminal Code (Sex Offender Management) Amendment Act 2018 [ which amended the Criminal Code Act Sen. Robin Tucker: Oh, sorry. Maybe I am not quite
. . . yes, sorry. I am thinking that the Minister is saying
that he will not have an answer today. Is that correct?
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I think
I understand the question. As I stated, it is something
that the Commissioner of Police is looking into.

The President: Mm -hmm.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: There is no guarantee
that, as I stated in my answer, they will be able to find
the exact number and information that the Senator is
asking. So, I cannot offer a timeline as to when. But it is being looked into.
The President: Thank you.
Senator Tucker, I ask that you move on to your
second question.
Sen. Robin Tucker: If I may just make a comment be-fore I move on? Or do I just . . .
The President: I would like for you to ask your second
question, please.

QUESTION 2: SEX OFFENDERS REGISTER —REDUCTION OF TIME LISTED ON

Sen. Robin Tucker: Okay. All right. Thank you,
Madam President. I will do that.
Would the Minister please inform the Senate
as to what evidence a sexual offender must provide to
demonstrate that they no longer present a risk of
reoffending that would enable them to have time listed
on the Sex Offenders Register reduced?

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
That information is actually contained in the
2Amendment Act section 329FA (8) –(10).
[Pause]
Sen. Robin Tucker: Madam President, if the Minister
could repeat what he just said, please? I would just like
to make a note of it especially because the public obviously, generally, I am sure, would like to know. So, if he can just repeat that section? [Pause]

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Yes. The answer to the
Senator’s question is laid out in the Amendment Act
section 329FA (8) to (10), [that is,] [sub]sections (8) to
(10).
1907 by inserting section 329FA subsections (1) to (12)]
68 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Minister.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you. Thank you.
The President: You have a third question.

Sen. Robin Tucker: I do. Actually, I have a supplemental if that is okay?

The President: Supplemental to your second question?

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Sen. Robin Tucker: To the second question. Yes,
Madam President. And again, I have asked the Minister just to repeat the section, not for my purposes but for the purposes of the public who are listening.
So, Madam President, my supplemental question would be as follows: We commonly know that Ber-muda does not have a forensic unit to deal with sexual offenders, particularly of those with mental health diagnoses. So I am wondering if there are, or what servi ces
such offenders receive and what measures are in place
to protect the public from that particular population.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Give me one second,
Madam President.

[Pause]

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: So to answer your question, there are forensic psychologists at the Department of Corrections and the Department of Court Services.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Minister.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
If I may ask, How many forensic psychologists
are at the Department of Corrections and what is the
ratio of psychologists to number of inmates they are
dealing with?
Thank you, Madam President.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
We do not have those numbers at the time. We
will have to do some research and get those from the
Department of Corrections.

The President: Thank you.
Senator Tucker, would you ask your final, third
question?

QUESTION 3: SEX OFFENDERS REGISTER
Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes. Yes. Thank you, Madam
President. The third question is, Given that the Government committed to create an electronic Sex Offenders
Register “to provide comprehensive and current data
on sex offenders to facilitate more targeted notification
to members of the public ,” would the Minister please
inform the Senate as to whether the electronic register
has been created and, if so, when did it become operational? And, Madam President, if I may, I am speaking
about the public register versus a private register.
Thank you, Madam President

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: The register is not public,

Thank you, Madam President.
A supplemental to that answer: In North America there are public sex offender registers. So, I would
like to know if at any point there is going to be a consideration for having a public sex offender register?
And particularly for offenders who may decide not to
have services or not to participate in any kind of rehab
in prison. So obviously they are a risk to the public —

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Is there a question,
Madam President?
Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes. Again, I am coming right . . .
I asked the question in the beginning. So I am just coming right back around. So, I am just wondering if there
is going to be [or] there has been a consideration for a
public sex offenders register?
Thank you, Madam President.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Not at the time, Madam
President.

The President: Sorry?

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Not at this time.

The President: Not at this time. Thank you.
Senators, that completes the questions that
were presented to three of the Senators for which oral responses were requested.
And we will now move on with our agenda.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The President: The first Order of the Day is consideration of the proposed Agreement for Sale between
Gardine Izetta Gibbons and the Government of Bermuda regarding all of that southernmost strip of land to
be subdivided from property situate at 18 Secretary Lane, St. George’s. This item is in [the name of] Senator Leslie Robinson, the Junior Minister for Public
Works.



Bermuda Senate Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.

The President: You have the floor.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I move that
the Senate do now take under consideration the proposed Agreement for Sale between Gardine Izetta Gibbons and the Government of Bermuda regarding all of
that southernmost strip of land to be subdivided from
property situate at 18 Secretary Lane, St. George’s
GE05 [the Agreement], in accordance with the provisions of section 2(1)(a) of the Acquisition of Land Act
1970 .
The President: Is there any objection to the proposal?
No.
Carry on.

MOTION

AUTHORISE THE PURCHASE
OF ALL THAT SOUTHERNMOST STRIP OF LAND
TO BE SUBDIVIDED FROM LAND SITUATED AT
18 SECRETARY LANE, ST. GEORGE’S GE05
IN THE ISLAND OF BERMUDA AS OUTLINED IN
THE AGREEMENT FOR SALE MADE BETWEEN
GARDINE IZETTA GIBBONS AND THE
GOVERNMENT OF BERMUDA
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, “You shall
not steal; you shall not deal falsely . . .” Leviticus 19:11.
These are the words my Author and Finisher have be-stowed upon my faith, to which I live my life daily.
Always moving with integrity is key to any commitment made by oneself, and in this case a pledge made by the Honourable Minister of Public Works, Lt. Col. the Hon. David A. Burch, OBE (Mil), ED, JP, MP,
that under his watch (and I quote), A PLP Government
would never take any Bermudian’s rightfully owned
land. With this, in accordance with section 2(1)(a) of the
Acquisition of Land Act 1970, I introduce the Agreement for Sale between the Bermuda Government and
Ms. Gardine Izetta Gibbons to purchase all of t hat
southernmost strip of land to be subdivided from land
situated at 18 Secretary Lane, St. George’s GE05 in the Islands of Bermuda as denoted in said Agreement.
Madam President and fellow Senate colleagues, in 2020 Senators on both sides of the aisle may recall welcoming the St. George’s Club Act, which leased the then- closed resort to Hotelco, the owners of
the St. Regis Hotel, located in the east end of the Island. This Agreement leased the property to the company for a term of up to 262 years. Madam President,
the Bill at the time, which detailed the appropriate maps
[and which was] passed this Chamber, aligned with the Government’s overall vision to rej uvenate the Olde
Town. This was a d ay of much celebration and support.
However, Madam President, during this momentous occasion there was an oversight, namely, a property owned by local area residents, the late Mr.
Shirley and Mrs. Gardine Gibbons, the Gibbons family.
Madam President, the Gibbons’ family property is situated between the properties of the former Club Med
Hotel and the former St. George’s Club, which both
ceased operations in 1988 and 2020, respectively, and
now occupied by the St. Regis Hotel and the aforementioned reopened St. George’s Club, both owned by Hotelco.
When both closed entities were conducting
business prior to Hotelco’s ownership, the three par-ties, that is, the Gibbons family, Club Med and St.
George’s Club, appear to have operated harmoniously
through what can be regarded as a gentleman’s agreement wh ich allowed golfers and staff of the St. George’s
Club to traverse the Gibbons family property to access the golf course which was shared by both entities.
Madam President, this gentleman’s agreement
with the Gibbons family was also utilised by the then
United Bermuda Party -led Government in the 1980s to
allow the placement of water and wastewater infrastructure under the Gibbons’ land for not only the hotel,
but the greater area residents as well. This Agreement
saw the government gain access rights to the property
for infrastructure maintenance while the Gibbons family
would receive free potable water supplies in return.
Madam President, this gentleman’s agreement
has been honoured up to and after 2015 when the then One Bermuda Alliance Government entered into a
master development agreement (MDA) which allowed
for the enactment of the St. George’s Resort Act 2015
with Hote lco for the purpose of establishing a new hotel, the St. Regis [Bermuda] Resort. However, as no
formal documentation for this gentleman’s agreement
was ever produced, the use of the Gibbons’ family
property could not be legally included in the hotel lease,
as the government did not own this property and therefore it was not taken into consideration by the legal
terms of the Government and Hotelco for the MDA.
Madam President, it should be noted that in the
2015 MDA there were no property issues identified in
relation to the use of the Gibbons’ property as the St.
George’s Club was still in operation. At this time the
Gibbons family had full access to their property through
Secretary Lane, a public road nearby, and continued to
receive free potable water from the government.
Now back to 2020 when this Government enacted the fully supported St. George’s Club Act which
allowed the leasing of the property to Hotelco for the
term of 262 years, again, there were no property issues identified by either legal team. And the Gibbons family
had full access to their property through Secretary Lane
and continued to receive free potable water from the
Government.
Madam President, Members of this Chamber
may remember that concerns by the Gibbons family arose last year when a planning application was sought
by Hotelco and approved by the Development Applications Board to place fencing on Somner Lane in St.
70 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate George’s areas leased to the company to limit public
vehicular access to the golf course to safely protect
those utilising the golfing area. The reason for this is
that there were reports of vehicles owned by area residents who would traverse the golf [car t] path and almost collide with patrons.
Madam President, it was then reported by the
Gibbons family that the Government and Hotelco were wrongfully impeding access rights to the family estate
through Somner Lane and publicly requested to remove the fencing. Madam President, during disclosure to settle this immediate matter, the Government confirmed to the best of its knowledge that the Gibbons
family had no right to access Somner Lane, which was
leased to Hotelco. However, the Gibbons family in fact
do own a strip of the land to which the before- mentioned golf cart route and water infrastructure lie. Again,
access rights were not formally documented over 40
years ago.
Madam President, at this point I would like to
emphasise a point made previously. A PLP Government would never take any Bermudian’s rightfully
owned land. With this, I now continue on.
Madam President, to address the portion of
land where the infrastructure is situated and used as a
golf cart path, the Government has been in negotiations
with the Gibbons family to formalise an agreement to
purchase it. At present, the Government has come to
an agreement in principle to acquire the land from the
Gibbons family as denoted at the cost of $450,000 with
an additional payment of $50,000 toward legal fees re-tained by the Gibbons family, totalling a sum of
$500,000.
Madam President, the appraised value of this
portion of the property is only $30,000. This amount has
been calculated through surveying and current land
valuation of property of this size in Bermuda. Madam President, while this purchase price of $450,000— a full
15 times greater than the appraised value—may seem astronomical to some, it is not for this Government. Let
us call it what it is: fair value. To explain, number one,
it was the former Club Med and former St. George’s
Club who decided to place a golf cart path on the Gibbons’ property over 60 years ago to create and improve
the golf course. Number two, it was the UBP Government in the 1980s who decided to place water and
wastewater infrastructure across the Gibbons’ property
for the hotels and residen ts. These works were done
without —and I reiterate, without —proper documentation.
The powers that be at the time, for some reason, elected not to formalise these arrangements. Indeed, the Gibbons family agreed to receive free potable
water from the Government. But what was that value in
comparison to what the actual piece of property was
worth to the Government of the day or the former Club Med and the former St. George’s Club resorts? Madam
President, historically, this we cannot determine. However, we can say that this portion of property is worth far more than the small amount of pota ble water used
every day by the family.
Madam President, one may argue that this still
does not justify the price that the Government is purchasing this small piece of property for. Madam Presi-dent, let me enlighten further those who may hold this
concern. Could the Government utilise section 4 of the
Acquisition of Land Act 1970 to compulsorily purchase
the portion of land in question? Yes. We could have,
Madam President. But this Government made a decision to reach a negotiated settlement rather than com-pulsory purchase.
Additionally, could the existing government water infrastructure and golf cart path be removed and re-routed around the Gibbons estate? Madam President,
before the negotiation process and this Agreement being discussed today, the Government undertook the feasibility of this option. To accomplish this, it would
cost approximately $800,000 worth of funding immediately. This amount details, number one, $500,000
would be needed to reroute the existing water and
wastewater infrastructure; number two, $200,000
would be needed to reroute the current golf [cart] path;
and number three, $100,000 in legal fees.
Madam President, this is just in the immediate
to move the infrastructure. This new water and
wastewater system would need to be maintained. The new water piping infrastructure would have a useful life
of 100 years, and the additional pumps required to support the expanded infrastructure would last 20 years
each. If the Ministry were to take into consideration the
length of the current St. George’s Club lease with Hotelco, which has 260 years remaining, the new ex-panded infrastructure would see the Governme nt replace the water piping infrastructure twice, again
$500,000 each time, and the water pumps 13 times. At
present, each pump costs approximately $150,000.
This would give an estimated total of $2.95 million being the true cost of rerouting the water infrastructure around government’s property for the lifespan of
the current lease with Hotelco. This amount detailed is
based on current prices and does not take into consideration future inflationary or market rates. So the total may be even more.
Madam President, secondary to this question
on Could the government water infrastructure and golf
cart path be rerouted around the Gibbons estate?, if the golf cart path were to be rerouted around the Gibbons
estate, it would produce a substandard golfing area which would not only negatively affect the reputation of
the St. George’s resort, but it could cause damage to
the Island’s tourism product as well, as a whole. The
value of this is incalculable. On this basis, this option was deemed impractical.
Another option for consideration was if the
Government could lease the area from the Gibbons
family, then sublease to Hotelco. Madam President, individuals may recall the numerous public statements
made by the Gibbons family on the matter of selling


Bermuda Senate their land, that they would never sell it. Thus, the Government always held the view of leasing the portion of
property. A quick estimate of rent over the 262- year period of the lease at $500 per month would amount to $1.56 million. Therefore, when starting negotiations to possibly lease the land in question, the value of
$800,000 was used as a budgetary ceiling. As a reminder, this price was calculated as an estimate to reroute the current infrastructure.
Over the course of several months, Madam
President, the Government negotiated with the Gib-bons family’s legal team for the purpose of agreeing a
lease term that would span over 262 years, the same
length as the one afforded to Hotelco for the St.
George’s Club property. Madam President, subsequently, the Government received notification from the family’s representative that they would consider selling the portion of land to the Government, at which time the
negotiations pivoted from a lease arrangement to a sell
one. An assessment was then made by the Government of all of the options. And considering the circum-stances, we have accepted this offer in principle, subject of course to legislative approval. A plethora of intricate thought, cost analysis and consi deration were
taken to draft this Agreement laid before this Chamber
a few weeks ago.
Madam President, it took some time to get
here, almost two years to be exact. And indeed, there were ups and downs during this process. But we are
here now considering an Agreement that is mutually
beneficial to all relevant parties. This corrects issues that should have been addressed long ago. If authorised by this Chamber today, the government will out-right own the portion of land in question and this will provide the ability for the government to then lease it to
Hotelco.
Madam President, this purchase will [mark the]
end of a level of uncertainty for government infrastructure that supports the Town of St. George’s, as well as
for Hotelco to manage a resort without the fear of interruption and a fair settlement to the Gibbons family to
[bring] this matter to a satisfactory conclusion. Simply
put, this very small piece of land holds greater value
than a straightforward valuation on size would provide. The government has a waste treatment plant adjacent
to this property; water , sewage and irrigation pipes running under it; and the golf carts driving over it: three
built-in incentives to resolve this matter amicably for a
fair price. We believe we have done that with this Agreement.
And now I invite my Senate colleagues who
wish to participate. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Leslie Robinson,
Junior Minister for Public Works. And thank you for your most comprehensive overview.
Would any Senator care to speak on this
Agreement?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor. Sen. Dr. Douglas De Couto: Thank you, Madam President, and thank you to Senator Robinson for that de-tailed explanation of the evolution of the situation.
It is clear that some mistakes were made, and
these things happen. I think we in the OBA . . . not “I
think”; I know that we support this resolution.

The President: Mm-hmm.

We are quite pleased to
see it resolved on behalf of the Gibbons family, I think
as many people were relieved to hear. I do have to say,
though, I am surprised it took so long to resolve. We
have seen how fast this Government can move when
they want to, and I am thinking about things like in some
places coming in on a special sitting to talk about classic cars. And this thing, we heard a lot about the price or the cost and why the Government sought to organise
the resolution with the amounts. But I think we want to
highlight that, you know, the human cost is not something that we can put a number on—the stress, the
worry.
And the last comment I will say is that we just
wish that the Government could have resolved this in a
much more expedited manner in a way that we would
like to see this Government resolve many other issues
that are concerning the people of Bermuda today. We
would like to see an expedited approach brought to those. Overall support. Wish it had happened a lot
faster.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to . . . Yes. Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
For starters, I am very sympathetic to the plight
of the Gibbonses, this has been, obviously, a very difficult time for them over a long period of years. There
certainly are many options as to how to value of a parcel of land, one of which was the indepen dent appraiser’s value of $30,000. I would have personally ar-rived at a different amount that I think would have been
a very fair price for both parties. I do not fully under-stand the logic as to why the amount of $450,000 was
agreed to. But again, I am very sympathetic to the plight
of the Gibbonses, what they have gone through. So, I
will support the [Agreement] as put forward.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Hearing none, then—
Oh, Minister Darrell, you have the floor.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: I would. Sorry, Madam
President. Thank you.
72 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate I would just like to take this opportunity to thank
and commend the Minister, who is joining us today, and
his team.
The President: Mm -hmm.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: And as Senator De
Couto pointed out, sometimes to get things right you
have to take your time and go through time. It is very interesting and contradictory, you know. He gets caught up in the length of things that happen fast, things that the Government take their time with. I am
not sure which way he wants it. But I guess it depends
on the day.
But nonetheless, I want to focus on the matter
at hand and focus on the Gibbonses. You know, every-one has heard about this. There are MPs from the area who have been going to bat for the Gibbonses for
years, [and] family members. So as was laid out by the
Junior Minister, there have been many different twists
and turns in this, and we are not going to go into whose fault it was. But the bottom line is that this brings some relief to the Gibbonses after all these years. And so a
win-win for everyone involved.
So well done to the Minister, well done his
team, and well done for everyone for coming together
and negotiating in good faith to make sure that we come to an amicable resolution.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
I too would like to give my full support and commend the Minister for resolving this major issue.
It is over to you then, Senator Robinson.

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the proposed Sale Agreement be
approved, and I would like to now state the Resolution.

The President: Please do.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: BE IT RESOLVED that this
Chamber in accordance with section 2(1)(a) of the Ac-quisition of Land Act 1970 authorise the purchase of all that southernmost strip of land to be subdivided from land situated at 18 Secretary Lane, St. George’s GE05
in the Island of Bermuda as outlined in the Agreement
for Sale made between Gardine Izetta Gibbons and the Government of Bermuda.
The President: Is there any objection to that Resolution?
No objection.
It is fully supported.
[Motion carried: The Senate authorised the purchase of all that southernmost strip of land to be subdivided from land situated at 18 Secretary Lane, St. George’s GE05
in the Island of Bermuda as outlined in the Agreement for Sale made between Gardine Izetta Gibbons and the
Government of Bermuda.]

The President: Thank you, Senators, and thank you,
Senator Robinson, for your presentation.
Moving on then with our agenda, item number
2 is the Consideration of the Economic Development (Designation of Economic Empowerment Zone) (South East Hamilton) Order 2023. That is also in the name of the Junior Minister for Economy and Labour, Senator Lindsay [sic] Robinson.

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Senator —

The President: Oh, it is you. Leslie Robinson.
[Laughter]

The President: Sorry. Leslie Robinson. I think all three
are yours today, right? I beg your pardon.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 71(2)
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that Standing Order 71(2) be suspended so that the Senate may now proceed with consideration of the Economic Development (Designation of Economic Empowerment Zone) (South East Hamil-ton) Order 2023.
The President: Is there any objection to that?
No objection.
Carry on.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 71(2) suspended.]
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I move that
Senate do now take under consideration
the Economic
Development (Designation of Economic Empowerment
Zone) (South East Hamilton) Order 2023 , proposed to
be made by the Minister responsible for the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation in exercise of the power conferred by section 2A of the Economic Devel-opment Act 1968.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator Robinson.

DRAFT ORDER

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (DESIGNATION OF
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ZONE) (SOUTH
EAST HAMILTON) ORDER 2023
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you.
Madam President, the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation [BEDC or the Corporation] has


Bermuda Senate made substantial strides to date in creating the productive partnerships in both the public and private sectors
to establish the three existing economic empowerment
zones [EEZs] and anticipate doing the same with the
new proposed fourth EEZ. The first EEZ was estab-lished in North East Hamilton in June 2007. Two additional EEZs in Somerset and St. George’s were established in March 2011. The initiative continues to meet
the Government’s goals of empowering businesses
and residents in these designated areas.
Madam President, the PLP’s 2020 Election
Platform had a goal to transform the City of Hamilton
into a liveable city by fostering the developing of residential and mixed- use developments not just in the city,
but across the EEZs.
Madam President, today I am pleased to share
with the Members of the Senate another milestone in
the Government’s empowerment remit, as well as
bringing the Economic Recovery Plan projections to
fruition. The Order before the Senate today seeks to
establis h the new economic empowerment zone in
South East Hamilton under section 2A of the Economic
Development Act 1968. South East Hamilton has an
important role as the gateway to the city, providing key
commuter routes into and out of Hamilton. All commut-ers who reside in western Bermuda, along with many
from eastern Bermuda, pass through South East Hamilton to enter and exit the city. Additionally, it plays a key role in the economy of Bermuda as it hosts the container docks.
However, the full economic and development
potential of eastern Hamilton, both north and south, has
not been fully realised compared to the central and
western areas of the city. Designation as an EEZ pro-vides access to economic development tools to reach
this potential.
Madam President, respondents to a survey
conducted by the Bermuda Economic Development
Corporation were in strong agreement that there should
be more economic investment in the area, citing such
reasons as the need for investing in building refurbishment, underdevelopment and the need for support of
the many small businesses in the area, as well as the need to encourage more entrepreneurship in the area. The research also concluded that there was a need for
increased investment opportunities in the area to benefit the efficacy of the EEZ. Improvements in capital investment would not only increase business success
and employment opportunity, but prospects for residential development in a mixed -use environment would increase the customer base within the proposed zone.
Madam President, the area of land outlined in
red on the respective map contained in the Schedule to this Order is proposed to be designated as an economic empowerment zone. The area recommended for
EEZ designation comprises approximately six city blocks plus the cargo docks. The zone is almost entirely
within the limits of the City of Hamilton bounded on the
west by Court Street, the north by Victoria Street and the south by the Hamilton Harbour shoreline. The eastern boundary runs approximately along the eastern city
boundary to include some adjacent properties. Ulti-mately, the total area of the proposed zone is approximately 41 acres, with 33 acres of developable land.
Designation as an EEZ allows immediate access to a variety of incentives and products for qualifying businesses, property owners, developers and investors who meet the criteria and show need for support. Specific EEZ incentives currently available are as
follows:
1. BEDC EEZ payroll tax concession. BEDC approves up to nine tax periods, two and a half
years of tax concessions for new startups,
commenc ing in an EEZ or an existing business
relocating to any EEZ .
2. BEDC EEZ customs duty deferment. BEDC approves up to five years of duty deferment on
capital projects or capital improvement within
the EEZs both of businesses and property
owners.
3. Reduced land tax. Currently properties located within the EEZs have a reduced land tax rate
issued by the Office of the Tax Commissioner
compared to properties outside of the EEZs.
4. Reduced application fees on products. BEDC has reduced application fees on products applications located within the EEZs compared to
applications for businesses outside of the
EEZs.
5. Preferential interest rates on funding. BEDC
has reduced interest rates on microloans within
the EEZs compared to applications for busi-nesses outside of the EEZs, and the Corporation negotiates with the banks and financial institutions to offer EEZ preferential interest
rates.
6. Approved residential schemes. Designation as such facilitates foreign direct investment for
residential and mixed- use development projects within the EEZs.
The Corporation is actively working on additional EEZ business development and economic devel-opment products and tools within local banks, and this
Government aims at facilitating further economic activity. Doing business in and with an EEZ also brings the
added benefits of dedicated BEDC business development officers to work specifically with businesses in
each zone on business expansion and retention. In ad-dition, dedicated economic development officers can
be seen within BEDC’s Uptown Development Authori ty
whose sole role is to connect EEZ property owners, investors and developers together to continually regenerate these opportunity zones. It is important to strike
the balance with both business development and economic development, as both are interlinked to successful and sustainable economic activity.
In closing, Madam President, as evidenced,
this Government is committed to facilitating a viable,
74 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate reputable business environment as well as the development and economic generation of our economic em-powerment zones. Evidence has shown that the east-ern part of the city, both north and south, when com-pared with the rest of Hamilton needs additional atten-tion and investment and provides untapped opportunities for growth and development. We know we will have to strike the balance between facilitating investment and curtailing displacement and have full confidence that the BEDC and Uptown Development Authorit y
teams can achieve this with support from this Govern-ment.
To this end, the Minister of Economy and Labour will continue to make economic empowerment an imperative by creating sound progressive policies which support investment, regeneration and growth aligned with our Economic Development Strategy. The creation of the South East Hamilton Economic Empowerment Zone through tabling today’s Order and bringing this new zone into existence is a tangible example of this commitment and opens the door for new and ex-citing business and economic development possibili-ties.
Thank you, Madam President. I now invite
comments from my Senate colleagues.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any Senator care to speak to this Order?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President, and thank you again to the Junior Minister.
Let me say first that I am just going to declare
an interest here. I do have an interest in property in
Hamilton, although not within this EEZ. By the way, for
the listening public, that is public information. You can find that on the parliament.bm
website, but I just
thought I would be a little more explicit about it.
Certainly we support this. We can get behind
the mission of encouraging further investment in Ber-muda in Hamilton. And I would say it generally matches well with our concept that the Government should not pick winners and losers, but to set the conditions for
success. So definitely pleased to see that, and we look forward to seeing this district become more robust,
more dynamic and more thriving.
A few questions for the Junior Minister. We
know that there is the North East Hamilton EEZ, economic empowerment zone, for example. And we would be curious to know the Government’s assessment on how well that has done. What lessons have been
learned that might be applied to this new EEZ? And
how could we measure the success of that?
I do know that we have been hearing about this
for a long time throughout the legislative year, so I am glad to see it finally come to fruition. Another comment is that this does set the conditions for success for investors. Now we have to go and attract investors and convince them that Bermuda as a destination is attractive for investment, either local investors who have the choices internationally, globally (which of course we would much prefer that they keep their money here in Bermuda); and of course overseas investors with for-eign direct investment. We are not convinced, Madam
President, as you will not be surprised to hear, that the
Government have done a very good job of that. But we will take this EEZ.
And I think the last comment. When I think
about some of the businesses in this zone that I pass on a daily basis, I am not personally convinced that all
of them are perhaps in need of some of the benefits of
this EEZ. And of course nobody knows except for the
owners and managers what goes on within a com-pany’s books. But I would put it to the Junior Minister that there perhaps might be some relatively well -established and large businesses in this EEZ —I wonder if
the benefits might have been more narrowly targeted to the businesses that could perhaps have the most rela-tive advantage of getting a leg up or making up for an inability to get investment in the past. So, if the Junior Minister had any comments on that, I would like to hear
them.
But otherwise, it is clear we definitely support
this. We would like to see it more narrowly tailored, and
we would like to understand how the success of it is measured, how the success of other EEZs has been measured, and what lessons have been brought forward from them.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.
Sen. John Wight: T hank you, Madam President.
For starters, I am fully supportive of providing
designated empowerment zones including the one put
forward today. I have been a long, strong supporter of increasing economic activity for, in particular, those
businesses and individuals who operate and reside in
these empowerment zones. In preparing for today’s session, I reread Government’s development strategy for Bermuda for 2023–2027, which was very helpful.
While I am fully supportive of the objectives of
aiding businesses in this zone, I wonder if the Junior
Minister can provide an estimate of what revenues the
Consolidated Fund will no longer be receiving in the fu-ture as a result of the payroll tax, land tax and other tax relief being offered to the businesses and individuals. But overall, Madam President, I am fully supportive of this Order.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator John Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Order? Senator Dwayne Robinson, you have the floor.



Bermuda Senate Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
As my colleague Senator De Couto mentioned,
we do support the EEZ. My main concern here that I
would like to put forward to the Junior Minister is when
the North East Hamilton EEZ was brought about, it had
a lot to do with the fact that the businesses in that particular area felt as though they were not as supported
or as prominent as those in, let us say Front Street,
which is cov ered in . . . well, a portion of Front Street is
covered in the South East EEZ.
So, in the opening statement it was mentioned
that specific things are going to be done in each zone to help retain and attract investment. And I just wanted
to bring forth my concern that the North East Hamilton
zone is not now being kind of competed agai nst when
the original onus of that was to attract people to that
area who may not have normally looked at it, especially
when you look at South East Hamilton where they have
a lot of things going for them as far as location and, you
know, scenery and all of that other stuff. I am not saying that they do not deserve support. But my concern is,
are we going to make that balance of supporting the
folks in North East and the folks in South East without
creating any competition, and has that been considered in what that impact may be on the North East EEZ? So,
I just wanted to bring that thought to the Junior Minister and to see if we can get some insight onto whether that has been considered.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Order? No.
Then it is over to you, Senator Leslie Robinson.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
First of all, I think in relation to Senator De
Couto’s questions, at this moment I cannot answer all
of the Government’s successes. That is information
that we would have to certainly get for you. I can say
that at this moment in time, you know, you can go out
and actually see some of the successes. But I do understand how they can be measured; I understand that
question, and we can get that for you at another time.
Also, as well as trying to attract, the Government is actually speaking with some persons at this mo-ment in time. I cannot say all of that information at this
moment. But the Government is actively looking at get-ting both local and foreign direct investment into the
area.
I was not sure, Madam President, of [Senator]
De Couto’s last question or comment that he had. And I was just wondering if he could maybe just reiterate
that for us, please.

The President: Senator De Couto.

Thank you, Madam President.
It actually connects with Senator Wight’s comment. There will be businesses that will get a land tax
break or a break on customs duty that are already, I would say, long- existing. From the street, you know,
they seem like pretty big, successful businesses in the
Bermudian context that I would not have naturally
thought needed the economic stimulus. If I take the understanding of this Order to really reach down and pull
up new businesses, smaller businesses that we would like to perhaps help get to the next level . . .
And I am not knocking these existing businesses. I know that any business, especially in Ber-muda today, is a tough thing. But my understanding of
the intent of these EEZs is to really bring up some of
the smaller ones. And that was being questioned. Per-haps could this have been more narrowly tailored to
both not give up so much revenue from larger taxpayers that are already established, and have the benefits
be more focused where they will have the most impact
on the number of, say, smaller up- and-coming businesses?
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President.

The President: Yes, Senator Robinson.

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Yes. Okay. Thank you.
Just going to provide some additional comments to the questions. Not all businesses will fall into scope. The BEDC Act 1980 states the parameters for
small and medium- sized businesses. The report that
was tabled, and indicated the demand and demographics f rom the businesses in the new EEZ,
BEDC, produces an annual report which highlights the achievement and progress. So, I think this helps to answer some or most of Senator De Couto’s questions,
particularly when it comes to achievement and progress. That is in the BEDC annual report. Also, as far
as the parameters, not all are actually in scope as far as those businesses in the area. So, I think that proba-bly helps to answer a good bit of Senator De Couto’s
questions.
There was a question as well about the impacts
on payroll taxes. I think for the lack of, or not being able
to have as much revenue, I guess, coming in on payroll
tax, land tax relief, et cetera, I cannot answer that at
this point in time. But the whole i dea is that it is about
stimulating and incentives for business development. I think that, you know, as much as there might be a
downside when it comes to the funds that are going to
our offices, at the end of the day the overall goal and
incentive is to s timulate business and development. So
I think even if there may be a downside, there is also
76 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate much upside if we can continue with the initiatives of
the BEDC.
[Pause]
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Yes, and as I said, tax losses
are offset by the increased business.
And then there was a last [question] from Senator Robinson, I believe.
Madam President, can he just repeat his question?

The President: Senator Robinson.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Yes, of course.
Just to condense it, What has been considered
not to foster a competitiveness between the South East EEZ and the North East EEZ? Because originally the
North East one was brought about to kind of make that
area more attractive that had been neglected for some time. So I just wanted to make sure that there has been consideration that, by providing similar incentives to somewhere that encapsulates part of Front Street, that
that would not impact the North East EEZ negatively,
and has that been considered?
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, the Government and the BEDC look at it all in totality. It is not look-ing at it as, you know, we are focusing on one part of it
and not the other. So, it is looking at economic development and stimulation in the entire area, all areas of the EEZs.
The President: Having answered all of the questions,
do you want to move your Order then?
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I move that
the said draft Order be approved and that the following message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor:
May it please Your Excellency,
The Senate, having had consideration of the
draft Order entitled the Economic Development (Desig-nation of Economic Empowerment Zone) (South East Hamilton) Order 2023 proposed to be made by the Min-ister responsible for the Bermuda Economic Develop-ment Corporation in exercise of the power conferred by
section 2A of the Economic Development Act 1968,
has the honour to inform Your Excellency that the Sen-ate has approved the said draft Order.
The President: Is there any objection to the Order be-ing sent?
No objection.
[Motion carried: The Economic Development (Designa-tion of Economic Empowerment Zone) (South East Hamilton) Order 2023 was approved.]
The President: Thank you, Senators. And thank you,
Senator Robinson, for your presentation.
We will move on then to the next item on the
agenda on our Orders of the Day. And that is the sec-ond reading of the Bermuda Immigration and Protec-tion (Prohibition Order) Amendment Act 2023. And that
is also in the name of Senator Leslie Robinson, the Junior Minister for Economy and Labour.
Senator Robinson, you may proceed when you
are ready.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the
Bermuda Immigration and Protection (Prohibition
Order) Amendment Act 2023 be n ow read a second
time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator.

BILL

SECOND READING

BERMUDA IMMIGRATION AND PROTECTION
(PROHIBITION ORDER) AMENDMENT ACT 2023

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, this Bill
seeks to amend the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956 to change the procedure from making or-ders prohibiting landing under section 26 from the af-firmative resolution procedure to the negative resolu-tion procedure.
Madam President, protecting Bermuda’s borders and its people is important to Bermuda and the Government. Like all countries, Bermuda must have a rigorous system to regulate the movement of people into the country. This is vital to our national security. T o
protect Bermuda’s borders, the Minister responsible for immigration has the authority to prohibit the landing of various classes of persons. This is achieved by making an order in accordance with section 26 of the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956 (the Act). An order under section 26(2) is subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
Madam President, as you are aware, in the
past to address matters urgently, the Minister has had
to utilise section 26(3) of the Act, which provides that an order may be made without the need for the affirm-ative resolution procedure provided the order is c ertified by the Governor as urgently required in the public interest. Such an order is effective for 30 days. If the House is not scheduled to sit for longer than 30 days, the Minister is required to obtain multiple 30- day orders
from the Governor.
In the course of the previously described experience, it became apparent to the Ministry that the GovBermuda Senate ernment needs greater flexibility to adjust the list of prohibited classes of persons. Our current policy concerning visitors weds Bermuda to other countries’ visa requirements. So, the Government needs the ability to
adjust at short notice if necessary. T he proposed
amendment to section 26(2) of the Act to enable such
an order to be made subject to the negative resolution
procedure would enable Bermuda to adjust the list of
visa-controlled nationals on short notice while still subjecting the list to parlia mentary scrutiny and the Governor’s assent.
Madam President, the change from the affirmative resolution procedure to the negative resolution
procedure provides for timely decision- making and fostering internal and external communication about or to any person to whom a prohibition will or will not a pply.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Tucker, OBA Leader in the Senate,
you have the floor.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President,
and thanks to the Junior Minister for bringing this Bill to
us for discussion today.
I will start my comments, which will be quite
brief, but I am certainly in agreement with our needing to do what is absolutely necessary to protect our borders and our people.
So, I guess my concern (if I am free to call it a
concern) really is that it is another example of where
we seem to be watering down the powers of Parliament
(if I can say that) by shifting from the affirmative resolu-tion procedure to the negative one. It is understood that
there may be instances where there is a sense of ur-gency that is required. The legislation already allows for that, and certainly I am not quite grasping (if I can use
that term) as to why we have to make this shift to a
negative resolution procedure and at this particular
time. Is there something that has triggered that requirement to do it now?
Also, if the Junior Minister could maybe give an
example so that the change can be in some kind of practical context as to an instance or some sort of examples as to the negative resolution procedure in a
practical way being applied, that would be most beneficial. So, if [the Junior Minister] can answer those basic
questions that would be helpful.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Dwayne Robinson, you have the floor.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam President. I will be brief as well. Just following off of what my colleague and
Leader spoke on, I just wanted to kind of prompt how this particular amendment factors into the wider immigration reform that we have been spoken to by Government and by the Minister in another place. I just would like to get a bit of clarity as to whether this particular
piece leads into a wider reform to come and whether
we can get a bit of an insight on that and a bit of how
we arrived to get this particular Amendment at this particular time.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Yes. Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
Perhaps a bit more of a technical question, but
let us say . . . this question, well . . . excuse me.
Thank you to the Junior Minister also for the
explanations. I apologise. And I also inadvertently did not appropriately call out her title earlier.
So, for that I apologise to you, Minister.
Let us say that an order is made and someone
is deported. And then the order is found to be incorrect via the negative resolution procedure. Now who is going to pick up the tab and have that person come back
to Bermuda, should they wish, since they were er roneously sent away? That would be my question.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Yes. Senator John Wight, you have the floor.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
Yes, I would sort of add to what has been said
already. If the Junior Minister can provide some exam-ples as to what is not working to generate this proposal
that would be very helpful, because on the face of it I
could not quite understand the benefits of it. But if the
Junior Minister can provide some concrete examples, that would be very beneficial.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.

[Pause]

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Okay, Madam President.
With respect to Senator Tucker’s, I guess her
statement or comment about watering down powers of Parliament, I want to emphasise to her and the public
that parliamentary scrutiny is not being watered down.
The Bill would have been drafted in a different era when
there was not as great a movement of people as there
is now. Additionally, Government has a responsibility to
protect our borders. And in a time when sanctions lists
are constantly changing, when countries are coming on
and off of sanctions, when persons are coming off and
78 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate on sanctions lists, this Government needs to be nimble
enough to be able to make decisions and act accordingly, not only just to protect our borders, but also to be
in line with international standards when it comes to
sanctions.
So that, right now, presents a real -live issue for
us, an example, because persons may come on and off
sanctions lists and countries may come on and off
sanctions lists as well.
To the next question that I believe was posed
by Senator Robinson regarding Is there some sort of
wider reform to come? There is no wider reform associated with this change. It is just a practical solution to
streamline a process.
I think to Senator De Couto’s question, as far
as if there is an inadvertent event or an error in the Order, the Minister would determine a resolution in collaboration with the Chief Immigration Officer, if there is an
issue
Also, if there is a specific example, it is this: If
tomorrow the US, UK or Canada changed their lists of
visa-controlled nationals, Bermuda cannot lag behind.
Because remember, we are dependent on those major
points of entry as far as scrutinising persons . So if they
change their standards, we cannot lag behind in order
to legally operationalise what we have to do. And that
is why this is moving as I mentioned today in the brief.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator.
You may now move your Bill.

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I now move
that the Bill entitled the Bermuda Immigration and Protection (Prohibition Order) Amendment Act 2023 be
read a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I move that
[Standing Order] 26 be suspended in respect to this Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I now move
that the Bill entitled Bermuda Immigration and Protection (Prohibition Order) Amendment Act 2023 be read
a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third reading?
No objection.
BILL

THIRD READING

BERMUDA IMMIGRATION AND PROTECTION
(PROHIBITION ORDER) AMENDMENT ACT 2023

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I move that
the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
the Bermuda Immigration and Protection (Prohibition
Order) Amendment Act 2023 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Bermuda Immigration and Protection (Prohibition Order) Amendment Act 2023 was read
a third time and passed.]
The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson. And
thank you, all Senators, for participating and supporting the Bill.
We now move on.

MOTIONS
The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
The President: Would any Senator . . . Yes. Senator
Simmons, Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I would like to first congratulate the 2023 Outstanding Teachers who were nominated for the Outstanding Teacher Award this year. If
you do not mind, I would like to just read their names.

The President: You certainly may.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you.
• We have Ms. Helen Paynter, who is the M3
Head and the English teacher at Whitney Institute Middle School .
• We have Mr. Wayne De Silva, who is the Visual
Arts teacher at Whitney Institute.
• We have Ayesha Vickers -Brown. She is a Primary 1 teacher and the English Language Arts
Teacher Leader at Paget Primary.
• And we have (I do not want to say her name
because I am going to say it wrong, but I will
say her last name) [Lutgarda] Lambe at Purvis
Primary School. She is a P3 teacher.


Bermuda Senate • We have Shunna Muhammad, who is a preschool teacher at Southampton Preschool.
• We have Mr. Richard Lindsay, who is an Automotive Technology teacher at CedarBridge
Academy.
• We have Ms. Dionne Tuzo, who is a P1 teacher
at Northlands Primary School.
• We have Ms. Makeba Stowe, who is a P6
teacher and Deputy Principal at East End Primary School.
• We have Mr. Hewitt Taylor, who is a math
teacher at The Berkeley Institute.
• We have Mr. Michael Beckles, who is a math
teacher The Berkeley Institute as well.
Those are the finalists for the 2023 Outstanding Teacher Award. They gave a Long Service Award out to Mr. Wayne De Silva. Congratulations to him. And
the runner -up this year for the 2023 Outstanding
Teacher Award was Ms. Makeba Stowe, whom I have
worked cl osely with. So congratulations to Ms. Stowe.
And the 2023 Outstanding Teacher of the Year was Mr.
Hewitt Taylor. And I know Mr. Taylor because he actually taught my step- daughter. And he is an amazing
teacher. She was actually having trouble in math, and Mr. Taylor made sure that she was able to graduate in
her last year at Berkeley. So congratulations to Mr. Taylor and all of the finalists who were nominated this year.
Madam President, I also want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has donated to the Angel Tree this year. Every year Rosa’s Cantina and Chopsticks put up an Angel Tree for foster children, children in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters programme, a nd the homes in Bermuda.
But I want to give a big shout -out to Denise
Nanette and her team at RenRe who every year without
fail take on all of the foster children and make sure that
they get amazing gifts every year for Christmas. So thank you to Denise and her team. She is in my eyes
an unsung hero —without fail every year. I have extra
angels that I call about for special children who need something or children who get added into foster care at
the last minute. And she is always willing and able to
help. So thank you, Denise and y our team.
I also want to thank Holly Pacheco at DanceSations, who takes at least 60 angels every year and makes sure that her family at DanceSations get angels and get the gifts back to us in time.
And everybody who singly takes these angels,
because each angel represents a single child who has asked for something for Christmas. And 99 per cent of
the time their wishes are granted. So thank you to the public and everybody for rallying around to make sure that these children are blessed during Christmas. Actually, I say it all the time, especially foster children, who
are near and dear to me —being taken from your family,
especially during Christmas, or being in a family who is
not necessarily a beloved family . . . And people who
come in to rally in together to make sure that they have
a special place in our hearts and show them that we love them no matter what their circumstances are is
amazing. And especially like the older children who are
in Brangman Home and the Boys Home, they need extra love. And the extra help that we give them during
Christmas is amazing.
So thank you, Madam President, and thank
you to the public again.
The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to provide condolences to the family of the late Kim Burns. Kim was wife to Mike and
mother to daughters Amanda, Laura and Jessica. Kim
was an oncology nurse. She worked for the P.A.L.S. as a nurse. And she was the head of Agape House. She
passed away tragically at the end of November. So, I
would like to pass on my condolences to the family.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Yes. Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
As always at this time of year there have been
many things to talk about. But I would just focus on one very specific thing. I just wanted to send best wishes to
our young sailors competing in Brazil at the World
Youth Sailing Championship, PJ Rodriguez and Chris-tian Ebbin. I believe they are having a challenging go at
it, but they are competing with people in their fleet who
have won gold medals in the 29er, which, for those of
you listening, is a relatively technical high- performance
skiff-type boat. And this event, the World Youth Sailing
Championship, is really for the under -19, as it is really
second only to the Olympics in the sporting calendar.
So they are at a challenging event, and I wish them
success as that event evolves over the next day or so.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Tucker, OBA Leader in the Senate,
you have the floor.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to join or associate myself with
Senator Simmons’ congratulations to Mr. Taylor on
winning the Bermuda Educators Network award.

The President: Mm-hmm.
Sen. Robin Tucker: I also would like to extend condolences to the family of the gentleman who recently was
shot and murdered on Mary Victoria Road.
80 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate As well as condolences to the family of Mr.
[Wilfred Eugene] Outerbridge, who was also shot. And
he will be funeralised, as I understand it, tomorrow. So
I just wanted to extend condolences to those two families.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
Senator Robinson.

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Yes. I also want to share in
condolences to the family of Kim Burns. She was a
great leader at P.A.L.S. and also as Senator Wight
said, at Agape House. I had family members who interacted with her quite a bit over the time period, and she was always a lovi ng and caring person, particularly in
those times of need when family members are dealing
with cancer and cancer -related treatments, et cetera.
So, condolences to that family.
The President: Thank you.

Sen. Kiernan Bell: Thank you, Madam President.
I just wanted to associate myself with all of the
comments that have been made, both congratulatory and condolences, and in particular to the family of Kim, whom I knew personally. Mike Burns was of course one
of my partners at Appleby, and I know his daughters.
Kim was an extraordinary human being, also an incred-ible athlete. So, I also give my condolences to the pickleball community, for whom she was an extraordinarily
active member and just a great sportsman.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Vice President Kiernan
Bell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I am going to first start with
cultural congratulations. And I would like to congratulate Mr. Derek G. Simmons, a friend of mine, on his album Lunar, which was finally released, and I was able
to listen to it. It is a phenomenal work of production and
collaboration with multiple Bermudian artists. So congratulations to Derek.
Congratulations to all involved in the BMDS
[Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society] Cinderella pantomime, which was recently held.
Again, congratulations to the MarketPace for a
spectacular return to their Christmas parade in the City of Hamilton. It was a very festive occasion for many of
our incredible cultural and creative stakeholders per-forming for the crowd. I did get a chance t o take a walk
through the parade. My kids thoroughly enjoyed it. So, I want to say Congratulations! to the MarketPlace and
everyone who was a part of that.
And I want to—also the cultural theme—congratulate Skyport for hosting the Great Bermuda Carol -
Off and Holiday Market. And that was held recently, combining culture and tourism, as well as our young
people. So, I want to congratulate them for putting that
on, Madam President.
And finally, this one is going to take a little bit
of time. But I want to make sure I go through and congratulate each and every one of the young people who play football. Whether they be young females or young
males throughout the school system. And this is one of
those occasions, Madam President, where you see
public schools and private schools uniting in the spirit
of healthy competition. That is something that has been
going on for years and years. So, job well done to the BSSF —that is the Bermuda Scho ol Sports Federation—for putting this on. Congratulations to all football
coaches, all players, all parents.
But I want to, Madam President, if I can take
one minute to go through and congratulate each and every one of the winners:
• So starting with the Primary Girls Finals, it was
St. George’s Prep that beat Prospect Primary.
So congratulations to St. George’s Prep girls .
• In the Primary Boys, it was East End Primary
who defeated St. David’s Primary. So that was
an all -East End affairs, Madam President. Congratulations to the boys of East End Primary .
• In the Primary Girls Division 1, it was Warwick
Academy who actually defeated the Bermuda
High School for girls, 3 –2 on penalties. Congratulations to Warwick Academy .
• And the Primary Schools [Boys] Division 1 Final, it was Saltus Grammar who beat Warwick
Academy 5– nil. Congratulations to them.
• The Middle School Under 13 Boys, again Saltus Grammar beat Warwick Academy .
• The Middle School Girls Final, it was Bermuda High School Girls who beat Warwick Academy.
Congratulations to them.
• The Middle School Over 13 Boys, it was Warwick Academy who triumphed over Sandys
Secondary School, 5– 3. Congratulations to
Warwick Academy Middle School boys .
• In the Senior School Under 16 Final, it was CedarBridge Academy who beat The Berkeley Institute 4 –1.
• I am happy to end with this one. They say this
one is the match of the day. It was the Over 16
School Finals, and I am happy to report that it
was The Berkeley Institute who took the Senior
Schools Boys Football Finals 5 –2 over Mount
Saint Agnes.
So congratulations to all individuals who participated in this, what has become a cultural event. And it is the School Football Finals t hat happen every year.
And congratulations to everyone involved!


Bermuda Senate Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you.
Oh, I just want to associate myself with the condolences for Ms. Kim Burns. I think . . . I knew her and
she has nursed members of my family too. So, I associate myself with the condolences that have been expressed for her [family].
I would also like to express condolences to the
family of Ms. Patricia Ann Phillips, wife of Gary Phillips,
and to her daughter Jennifer and Al len and the grandson, Jarius. Patricia was an educator for almost 30
years and an advocate for early childhood education,
as well as an enthusiast for arts and culture, which she
passed on to her daughter, who is now the Director of
the Bermuda National Gallery. So, I just wanted to
reach out and let them know that we are thinking of
them.
Also, condolences are expressed to the entire
family of Mary Elizabeth “Beth” [Furbert nee] Franks, who was funeralised this morning, and especially to her [step] sister Annette and the entire extended family.
With that . . . oh, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I apologise. I know that you have spoken. But I just would like
to, with your permission —

The President: Absolutely.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: —give condolences to Senator Arianna Hodgson on the passing of her grandfather this week. I know everybody in the Chamber joins
me in wishing her condolences on [the death of] her grandfather. And special condolences to her mother
and her sister and her daughter and nephew.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Certainly.
I am sure the entire Senate body will extend
our condolences to you, heartfelt condolences.
All right. Well, with that, we will now move on
to adjournment.
Minister.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I do now ask that the Senate adjourn to Monday, December 18.

ADJOURNMENT

The President: Thank you, Minister.
Would any Senator care to speak on the adjournment?
Senator Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.

ADDRESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
I am sure everybody knows by now two topics
that I hold dear to me are foster care, children of foster care and children in general; and domestic violence. Madam President . . . (Sorry).

[Pause]
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: So again, Madam President,
two things that I hold dear to me and what I talk about
most in the Senate are children in foster care, children
in general and domestic violence.
Madam President, I had the honour and privilege on Monday to be invited to speak at CedarBridge
Academy, and I spoke in front of the S3s and S4s.
Madam President, I would like to thank Tammy Rich-ardson- Augustus from One Love Foundation and also
Ms. Joanne Anderson, who is a teacher at CedarBridge
Academy. And I would like to give a special thank you to Leah, Zory, Shia, Skye and the entire class from the
Child Care and Development class. They actually do project -based learning in this class, which gives them a
deep engagement and interaction with learning con-tent. It encourages higher -order thinking and problem -
solving skills with real- life challenges. Madam President, the development of peer and professional net-works is also what project -based learning is about.
Madam President, I was able to share my
story. And before I got to share my story, Zory Durham actually told the story about Anna Skeeters. I am not
sure if everybody is familiar with Anna Skeeters, but it
is a name that we all should know. Anna Skeeters was murdered in 1870. And because of her death, this is
what formerly constituted the police service. Anna
Skeeters was murdered by her husband, and her body
was thrown overboard with her head and hands missing. She was a woman who was abused by her husband , who had many affairs. Anna Skeeters’ case was
the first case named in Bermuda for domestic violence,
and that was some 144 years ago.
And this is something that we need to remember because still in 2023, we are still experiencing many
domestic violence incidents. I want to reach out . . .
well, thank Tammy Richardson- Augustus especially for
this year putting the empty chair out around Bermuda
this year. The empty chair represents people who died
from 1978, the first domestic murder on record. And the
empty chair that represents 2021 for the last sense less
abuse murder. And we all know who that was. That was . . . I say her name in here quite often. That was Ms.
[Morissa Moniz], who died as well.
So, Madam President, when I heard these stories or as I sat there and listened to the young children who solemnly speak of domestic violence, for me it affects me in a way that I had chills. I could have been
one of these victims. I am glad that I was able to survive
and I am able to speak today about it. I do believe that
this is the right way forward, speaking about it. It should
82 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate not be something that is hushed and not spoken about.
It is something that we should speak about more often
and let our young people know and everybody know
that these things happen and we need to be able to listen to somebody’s story, be a voice and be a shoulder to people who need help in these situations.
So, I implore everybody today to continue the
fight against domestic violence so that we can hold our males and females accountable, that we know that
there are different types of abuse. There is mental
abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, [and] financi al
abuse. And these all start off small and continue to get
bigger and bigger the more times that we allow ourselves or allow others to be abused. So we need to put
our foot down. And if you see somebody being abused,
say something.
I remember a video maybe a year ago that
went around with a young lady who was being dragged
on Queen Street and kicked and punched. You know,
it is not normal. It should not be a normal behaviour. It
should not be something that people see and do not stop.
So again, Madam President, I want to thank
CedarBridge for being in the forefront and speaking. As I was looking out in the audience as I told my story, I saw boys with their mouths open. I saw girls looking
intensely. I stopped at somebody’s house last ni ght to
actually get an angel. And the young lady came to the
car and brought me a package. And she said, Thank
you. Thank you for telling your story. Thank you. I didn’t know that happened to you, Aunt Lindsay, were her words. So we need to not be afraid t o tell our stories.
Let the young people know that, Listen. We all have
stories to tell.
So, I thank everybody for speaking out. And
those who do not speak out, you know, find a way to help somebody else because not everybody wants to tell their story. But there are stories that can be told especially the one about Anna Skeeters. It was actual ly in
the The Bermudian magazine, and I was sitting here
contemplating whether I was going to ask you if I could
read this story because I think it is so fitting. It was published on August 21, 2023, and was written by Sandra
Campbell. I think everybody should take the opportunity to read what happened to Anna Skeeters. It was
a horrible, horrible death that she went through. And
she by all accounts from reading was an amazing wife,
took care of her husband. And her husband was angry
that she questioned him about having affairs.
So, Madam President, like I said, that touches
me because that was the trigger for my relationship when I decided to leave after I found out he was having
an affair. So again, I implore everybody to read the
story about Anna Skeeters and to listen to other people’s stories. And I would say it like I did at Cedar-Bridge. I had people at the end of the assembly, teach-ers, coming up hugging me and crying. I had students
who reached out to me. So, there are so many people
here being abused. But we cannot be sile nt about it. We have to find our voices, and we actually have to
take time to support each other because this is not an
easy situation to be in.
So, thank you to the Ministry of Youth, Social
Development and Seniors for taking the time to make sure that those resources . . . Minister Tinee Furbert is
doing an amazing job with getting out there. And she
was there in the assembly as well. I let her k now that I
was speaking, and she came and supported. And I think that this is an important topic that should never be
silenced. It should be spoken about more often. And as much time as I am given the opportunity to speak about
it, I will definitely speak about it. Because the more we
hear about it, the more we could save a life. We could
stop a child from seeing abuse.
There is a cycle. S ometimes there is a cycle
that this is all children see at home. Their mother is be-ing abused. So as I said before, I want everybody to
know that I am Lindsay Simmons. I am Anna Skeeters.
I am Marcus Gibbons. I am Ruth Binns. And I am so
many more people w ho have lost their lives to domestic
violence.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Tucker, you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
Before I start with what I was going to be talking
about, I just want to say thank you to Senator Simmons
for taking the time and going to CedarBridge and for sharing her story not just in this Chamber, but also publicly. It takes a lot of courage for som eone to do that
particularly given the nature of domestic abuse. It
grows and strengthens in the shadows just like child-hood sexual abuse and other types of sexual abuse.
So, I just want to take a moment and say thank you to
her for shedding some light on a very, very, very important topic. And I also want to say that 110 per cent I
agree and would share the encouragement that she is
putting out there for anyone who is experiencing domestic abuse, whether they be male or whether they be
female, whether they are the victim or if they are the
abuser themselves. If they are the abuser, they need
help. If they are the victim, they need help.
And so I would just simply like to encourage
and again thank the Junior Minister for sharing her story
in a public way.

ADDRESSING CRITICAL SOCIAL ISSUES
Sen. Robin Tucker: So, what I wanted to talk about
today is really in line with what we are seeing in the community. There are some things that are being encouraged as wonderful things that are happening. But,
Madam President, I feel compelled to again try to sound


Bermuda Senate an alarm, which I have tried to do in this area previously. I see the Minister looking at me. It is not a political thing. This is about a community thing.
I am worried that we are being bombarded in a
lot of ways with all of these wonderful things that are happening. But I want to talk about a couple of things
that are not wonderful that are happening. Something
happened a couple of nights ago. Someone was shot
and murdered on Mary Victoria Road. That is not a wonderful thing that is happening. I listened to a police
report today to say that there were four people mur-dered this year. And what bothers me, Madam President, is that we are becoming a society whereby . . . we
used to be shocked! It used to be something that
rocked us. And as a Bermudian people who are so caring and loving, I fear that we are becoming in a lot of
ways desensitised to what is going on around us. And while it may feel like gloom and doom, it is the reality of
where we are, and we need to talk about it.
We have had an attempted murder in broad
daylight during lunchtime hour on a workday in Hamilton. That should scare the living daylights out of us and
compel us to want to see something done in a tangibl e
way that will close that door, because there is a door
that has been opened.
We have heard just, I believe it is in today’s paper, more redundancies are coming. Businesses are
going under. We have heard about a recent report about THC -infused candies being sold in our stores. I
attended the presentation by Ms. Laura Stack who was invited to come and talk about the dangers of THC and
marijuana and things. It was quite insightful. TNN not
too long ago reported that THC gummies and products
have sent some senior high school students to the hos-pital. What are we saying? What are we doing? Eight -
year-olds caught vaping. We have got Financial Assistance clients who are left with no money. I personally know of a situation where an individual does not even
have five dollars to go buy a cup of tea. What are we
doing?
In Bermuda, in an environment where we care
so much about people, here we are at Christmastime.
We are pulling out all the stops, and rightfully so. And
that is a wonderful thing. But we cannot get so caught up by the wonderful things that are happening and ignore the things that are not wonderful. Our attention
span, Madam President, is getting to a point where we
have a two- week attention, or until -the-next-thingcomes -up, and then we forget it or put it to the side. But
what is happening in a tangible way that is addressing some of these critical social issues that we are facing?
It is . . . I mean no slight when I say that we see
all of these wonderful commercials on TV from the Gov-ernment that are celebrating things that they have
done. No slight at all! But what are we doing with the
things that are not going well? How are we addressing those things? I saw just recently, I believe it was last
night, where the head of the Gang Violence Reduction
Team has just written a 280- page book. No slight against him whatsoever. But in this Chamber I asked
some time ago, Can you give us some idea of what he
is doing? I think we, the public, are owed that especially when we see that we continually have families who are
mourning their loved ones due to gang violence and other types of violence. What are we doing? Can we at
least know what that team is doing? What are we doing,
Madam President?
I have no doubt that I am going to get some
comments from the Government. And I am okay with
that, because I feel it is my responsibility as a person who has said that I will be a public servant. It is my responsibility to talk about the things that nobody else
wants to talk about, or talk about those hard things.
Senator Simmons just talked about a hard thing. We
have to get beyond where we are just not talking about
the hard things that are the difficult and politically . . .
well, not politically incorre ct, but the things that may not
be politically pleasing to talk about.
Our children have gone to the hospital because
they have taken THC gummies! Eight -year-olds are
vaping! Let that settle in our minds for a minute and ask ourselves as Bermudians, Who are we, and what are
we allowing to happen here? Families are in disarray.
Those two examples I just gave are an example of what
is going on in our households. When . . . how are we
going to address those types of things? Because what
happens in the house is affected by the community, and
the community then is the Island. And w e play a part in
everything else that goes on in this world.
Who are we as Bermudians? What do we
stand for? Because once upon a time we looked out for
our neighbour, whether it was sending our children home because they were out after dark or sending our
neighbour’s children home because they were out after
dark, or making children (when they walked in a room
and saw adults) say, Good afternoon, good evening,
good night, Auntie, Uncle, Mr. So- and-so. Basic examples.
Who are we? And what are we doing?
Madam President, someone once said . . . and
I am going to make this statement because I am sick
and tired. And honestly, I am sick every time somebody
gets murdered. I am sick and tired of hearing about, We
have to deal with the scourges in this community. What
are we doing? I am sick of it! I am sick of the condolences that continually go out to families. They are feeling . . . and again, I do not pretend to know what is in
people’s hearts; I do not. What I am saying, though,
Madam President, is that somebody once said, If your
actions don’t live up to your words, you have nothing to
say!
What are we doing? What are we doing about
it? That is what I would like to know. What are we doing?
Thank you, Madam President. That is all I have
to say.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
84 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Dwayne Robinson, you have the floor.

ELECTION REFORM AND
PARLIAMENTARY DECORUM

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I just wanted to continue off of the theme of
hopelessness or disconnect that my Leader spoke of.
But I would take it to a different place where it is manifested in voter apathy and a general disconnect from
the political system that we are currently in. And the
reason I wanted to raise this point is because a function in democracy is really only as powerful as the people
who participate in it. And what we have seen lately in the last few electoral cycles is that eroding away.
And this is not aimed at any specific party. In
fact, I feel like it will impact both parties and that we have a joint responsibility as parliamentarians and as appointed officials to do our best to try and engage or
re-engage Bermudians. And this is not even so much
of an age issue as it is just a Bermudian issue, where
right now you hear so frequently when you walk the streets or when people come up to you that, you know,
It doesn’t matter who’s in. Things don’t seem to change.
Right?
And I want to raise this because a lot of the issues that I see have to do with how we conduct our-selves in these Chambers and how we conduct our de-bates in these Chambers. And it is not something that
tends to resonate with the listening public. And we constantly hear these things, and we continue to operate in the same manner with the personal attacks and the
riling -up and the heckling and all of these various things
that you see not just in the other place, but in this Chamber as well.
And I want to be the first one to say that as
somebody who is a younger Member, I hear frequently
within my age bracket that they would never see themselves participating in a system as it currently stands,
which seems to be more about the messenger than t he
message. So, I really want to bring this up as we come
to almost a close of our session, as to how we can all
kind of, within ourselves, do our little part to reassure
the public that when we do come into these Chambers
what is being discussed and what is being debated is
in their best interests for them, about them.
And I think right now . . . you know, I was listening to the radio. And a person threw out 45 per cent.
[That was] the number who did not come out to vote. I
am not going to state that as the number; I have not
gotten the specific percentage. But it is set to rise as
people in the community consistently tell us that they do not see themselves coming out to cast their ballot. And this is something that should concern all of us who
are in this Chamber and the other Chamber as to how
we can re- invigorate our B ermudians into believing that this system serves them. And if this particular system
does not, then how can we reform it? How can we
change it?
So some things that I thought would help, and
I mean it is up to the Government whether they would consider it, or maybe they are considering it for all I
know, but just registration drives when folks turn 18.
See if we can find a way to engage those folks who are
indeed coming into voting age. And you know, maybe engage Youth Parliament in that way. And also consider absentee voting, which has been bandied about for university students who, a lot of them reached out
and said they felt like they might have been let down or
cheated in the last election because they were away
and could not cast a vote. And I understand that, you
know —

[Inaudible interjections]
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: What was I just . . . Well,
Madam President, what was I just talking about?

The President: Minister, the Senator is speaking.
[Crosstalk]
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Could not wait to the end. I
know. But you know, it is just . . . this is behaviour that
we have become accustomed to. So—
[Crosstalk]
The President: Senator Robinson, carry on.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: I will speak directly to you,
Madam President.
So again, as I stated before, this is something
that I think concerns both parties. And though some
might say, Yeah, sure! Who is the Government?, to me
neither Government has made a move on it. Right? So
this is the point. Who is in the driver’s seat now? Maybe
when this new team becomes the folks in the driver’s
seat I will be able to be in a position to advocate for it
directly to Government. But regardless. And I think that
when we have the disconnect in the public, it creates a
sense of hopelessness t hat whatever is done is not going to effect the changes necessary to encourage Bermudians to want to stay. So what they are doing is they
are voting with their feet. Or they are just abstaining al-together.
And I do not think that we can continue to ignore this trend. And it is a global trend, but I think in
Bermuda as a small island we can be more transformative in how we approach our politics and how we approach engaging our people. Because we are such
small communities. And each elected official and each
appointed official can reach a significant portion of the
population. We may not all roll in the same circles. But
I think that is what makes a democracy good, different


Bermuda Senate points of view. And I think we need to leverage that to
do our best in the next year and the next session to reinvigorate that engagement and even consider televising the House of Assembly and the Senate Chamber
so that folks can catch a replay or whatever. Like what-ever we need to do to encourage people to say, Hey,
this is something that I want to participate in. This is
something that I believe serves me. And I can hold my
elected official accountable.
So I wanted to raise that point because I feel
like that underlying theme, as my Senate Leader touched on, of hopelessness and feeling like nothing is
going to change, I think we as elected officials and appointed officials have to make sure we hold ourselves
to a certain standard in here and make sure that we are
advocating for the participation of our constituents for
those of us who do intend to run or have seats that are
assigned to us, that we do our best in that regard.
So, I just wanted to share those comments and
hope that we can move into the next session with a bit of decorum and also with more engagement, for our people.
Thank you so much.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Arianna Hodgson, you have the floor.

GENDER- CENTRED PARLIAMENT
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
My motion to adjourn today is actually based,
well, it is actually inspired by a conference that I attended a few weeks ago. It was actually the PwC Insur-ance Summit. There was a lot of great information shared over the course of the day, but I was actual ly
most impressed by the panel discussion that high-lighted the agenda for talent, diversity and inclusion.
This panel was actually moderated by Robert Armstrong, who is of the Financial Times, and featured Ann
Haugh, Chen Foley and Ivy Kusinga, whom some o f us
will know.
Over the course of the discussion, they spoke
about promoting a diverse and inclusive environment,
building the confidence we need to advocate for ourselves and encouraging each other to get out of our
comfort zones. They even touched on the impact of remote work on company culture and why DEI [diversity,
equity and inclusion] initiatives should not be the sole
responsibility of HR departments. While there were so
many gems shared over the course of the day, I think
the major take- away came actually toward the end of
the conversation when Ivy acknowledged that work-places were never designed with women in mind. So while I had not given it much thought prior to that day, I
recognised just how impactful that realisation is. So, if you think about the fact that most workplaces are historically designed with a male- centred
perspective, often assuming a traditional family struc-ture where the male is the primary breadwinner and the
female is the primary caregiver, I would say that it makes perfect sense that the result has been numerous challenges for women and inequities for women I
would say in the workplace.
So, this has led me to turn toward here in the
Legislature. And so about a year ago I was sitting in this
Chamber and I was reading an article that mentioned the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians. It was
talking about the idea that, you know, Parliament
should respond to the needs of both men and women
in not only the composition and structure, but I guess
the operations, the methods and how it all works. There
was a note in there that was talking about all of the great progress that has been made by many of the
Commonwealth Parliamentarians to actually achieve
SDGs [sustainable development goals]. I think it was
five about gender equality. And I think the target was
ensuring women’s full and effective participation at all
levels of decision- making in poli tical, economic and
public life.
So I hope that today’s, I guess, this just short
bit would bring light or even begin some conversations
about what it means to have a gender -centred parliament and what that means for us in Bermuda specifically.
Beyond this conference and the article here, I
was also on social media. And I am actually more off of social media than I am on these days, you know, for
various reasons. But I had come across a post by a young woman who said that there were not persons
speaking up for women in the Legislature. She actually
said that . . . the post was based on an issue of infertility, something that some of us have not thought about as much as others. And I recognised that it was my responsibility or perhaps our responsib ility to think about
all of these things that are actually impacting our
women, specifically, you know, Bermudian women. So
when I think about legislation, I think about the fact that
it is crucial for not only protecting and advancing
women’s rights, but being able to support them in their
various journeys. And something like ensuring that a woman would have control over her reproductive
choices is fundamental to gender equality.
But I think there are many instances in which
we have not thought about how women are being impacted. I think that as Legislators we must recognise
that we are responsible essentially for ensuring that
women have equal rights and opportunities in all
spher es of life. And that includes education, employment and here in politics. I think we often talk about,
you know, the time for new faces. And if we want new
faces in these places, we need to start having conversations about how we ensure that we are attract ing the
right people into the rooms.
86 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate As we know, there are many countries that still
experience gender pay gaps, of which we are one. And
we should, and I think we begin to have these conversations, but we need to go even further to look at what
legislative measures can address this issue to promote equal pay for equal work and just to encourage transparency across the board. As a Government, we
started the work to address violence against women,
some of the harassment that has occurred online and
in other means. But I think we have an opportunity to
go even further. You know, as it has been mentioned
today, we can all agree that we need more reforms to
address violence against women, domestic violence
and actual haras sment and even human trafficking.
That was something else I had a conversation about the other day. We do not realise that it impacts us in
Bermuda on our shores. And we need to start having conversations about what that means for us.
As women, we often hear about the idea of
work/life balance, and I am one of those who says there is no such thing. You are good at one or you are good at the other, but you cannot do it all, right? But I think
there are ways that different legislative ini tiatives can
actually support women on their desire to do all of the
things, to show up as their best selves for themselves and for their families. I actually think that we are ready
for legislative reforms that encourage and support increased representati on specifically in these places. I
am not sure what the quotas would look like, but I think
we need to start talking about them.
When I think about, you know, the fact that
women and men should have equal opportunities to enter Parliament, I think about years ago when there were
educators who were looking to enter this space, and they had to make a decision as to whether or not they
could continue as educators or set foot in here and have to give up one or the other. I think that a lot of the problems that are facing our society can be addressed
by those persons who work closest to our children. And
guess what? Those are, in the most instances, our
teachers. Well, our teachers do not have the oppor-tunity to serve in this capacity.
And so again today was just supposed to be an
opportunity to just encourage us to start thinking more about what our ideal futures look like. How can women,
or how can we make sure that women are included in
higher places so we can have more fulsome repres entation? When we ensure that women have equal rights
and opportunities and protections, we all win. I think
that we can all leave this space being mindful to con-tribute to building spaces where gender -based discrimination is minimised and we can all thriv e. I would like
to go a bit further, but I think that is great for today, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn? Oh, I beg your pardon. Senator De Couto, you
have the floor.

GOVERNMENT TRAVEL EXPENSES

Thank you very much,
Madam President. Much appreciated.
This travel thing has got me in a tizzy, Madam
President. I do a lot of it for work. I have been looking
through the travel calendar, the items in the travel calendar. Of course, those are not the items that we talked about in the prior questions, just to be clear. I am not
revisiting that. I saw that the Deputy Premier had a
$10,000 airfare to London. And I said, I wish I could get
one of those for my business trips. Sometimes I do go
out club class. I lie down and I get to go to work at
9:00 am the day I arrive. But that is not a $10,000 fare;
that is a $5,000 fare. So, I am assuming that the Deputy
Premier flew out there on first class. So that was a little
eye-opener for me.
I do not understand why the Government is not
diligent in transparency around getting this information
out there to the public. The purse strings I would have
thought are being held pretty tightly right now because
there is not a lot of money to go around. And I am a
little surprised at some of those numbers.
Now, Madam President, I will give to the Bermudian public that a certain amount of travel is of course required and of course must be done at the appropriate quality and level so that the people undertaking that travel on behalf of the Bermudian people can
achieve the best outcomes for the public. But some of
this just looks excessive to me, highly excessive. I noted, for example, that the Deputy Premier flew down
to Barbados to speak at a conference. And that was
paid for, as far as I could tell, by the B ajan Government.
And I guess I would ask the question, Is that something
that ought to be declared on his interest form? Because
it is being paid for by another government? So, I think
the people ought to consider that.
And that is why we ask these questions. We
ought to know where people are going. And if the Bermuda Government is not paying, who is paying? And if
someone else is paying, why are they paying? What is
the intent of that, and what does that mean? I am not saying there is any ill intent. But everyone ought to have
the information required to make an appropriate assessment and an appropriate judgment.
My view, Madam President, is that there are
Members of this Government who feel entitled to this travel. We were listening about all of the accomplishments of Ms. Hefti. My interpretation of that is that she
is sort of a PR person for certain Government M inisters.
That is what I heard. Because I could not get any information out of the Government about the actual impact
on Bermuda. I heard a lot of big words, a lot of things
that are going to happen. But they did not seem to know


Bermuda Senate what that would mean to the bottom line, what the investment income would be, how much capital would
come to Bermuda.
What I heard is somebody traveling, promoting, arranging meetings, arranging PR, arranging YouTube videos. Well, in my view the taxpayer is paying for a little bit of promotion of Government Ministers.
So, I am not really happy about that and I do not think
the Bermuda public is.
Some of the things the Government is doing
with this travel . . . I will give you that some of these
things are good, or they could be good. I just hope that
they do not end up on the scrap heap of initiatives like
we have seen on many prior things from th is Government that look good on paper. Well, some of them did not even look good on paper, such as the Arbitration
Centre, vertical farming, FinTech. I would welcome the opening of a family office here from the Middle East,
and let us hope it actually brings billions of dollars of
funds to be managed in Bermuda and in the appropriate investment in Bermuda to support that, too.
And I guess I will just leave you with this,
Madam President and the people listening. Part one, a
reminder that leadership, true leadership is a function
of what you achieve and how you achieve it. It is not about your position. It is not about control or power. It
is about what you can achieve for the people whom you hope you lead. And the second part, Madam President, is a quote from Maya Angelou: “I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you
did what you did, but people will never forget how you
made them feel.”
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President.

The President: Minister Owen Darrell, you have the
floor.

ADDRESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
And I would like to just recap some of what we
have heard in the motion to adjourn this morning. Obviously, something that is a passion and must be talked about and spoken over and over again, and I want to
thank Senator Lindsay Simmons for reiterating th e importance of our being aware and acknowledging domestic abuse in this society and bringing some of the
parallels to what is happening in other parts of the
world. And I thank her and all of the agencies that she is attached to for the work that they are doing to try to
bring more awareness to it and to reduce the incidents
of domestic violence in this country. ADDRESSING CRITICAL SOCIAL ISSUES

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Also, I would like to thank
the One Bermuda Alliance Senate Leader, Senator Robin Tucker, as she is along the same line and length of Senator Simmons when she brings matters to the
Senate that are of national importance. I cannot sit here
and disagree wit h much of the concerns that she has
raised this morning (or this afternoon).
But I can assure you that the individuals who
are put in place by the Government are doing really,
really important work where they have been placed. I
am not going to get into specifics. And sometimes the
work that people do goes unseen. And sometimes the
work that individuals do cannot be laid out and say, Well, I can clearly see the fruits of their labour. But I can
assure you that in some of the places that I have sat over the last couple of years, the work is important.
So, I want to thank all individuals who are working for the government in areas that . . . you know, you
only hear about them at certain times, but their work is
not acknowledged at other times. And I will leave it at
that, Madam President, without going i nto great detail.
But it is not lost on the Government, and that is why we go to work every single day. That is why all of us in
here, as well as others who sit in another place, have
signed up, as well as you, Madam President, for servant leadership. And it is to be servants of the people.
And in all that we have heard today, you know,
some of the Senators here today have spoken about servant leadership and given suggestions and question, Is this Government doing the best that they can to
serve the people of this country? And my answer, as
you have heard many times, Madam President, is a re-sounding Yes! The Progressive Labour Party obviously
will do things differently than the One Bermuda Alliance. But we have shown . . . and I will get into it more
at our final sitting, Madam President. But it is a long list
of, as the words of Senator Tucker, wonderful things
that are happening in this country.
Now, I already acknowledged the things that
we could be doing better, the things that the country as a whole, the social issues that we are struggling with,
worldwide issues that people are struggling with. And I
acknowledge them. And we as a Government go to
work every day to serve the people, once again,
Madam President, so that we can see things turn
around in a more positive direction than what they already are doing.

ELECTION REFORM AND
PARLIAMENTARY DECORUM

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, unfortunately, there were a few other speakers who spoke on motion to adjourn. And it seems to be a theme of
one Senator who seems to have hurt feelings, Madam
President, always using the term decorum. You know,
Madam President, I have been a debater since The
88 13 December 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Berkeley Institute when I was in the Debate Club way
back in 1992, I think I started at The Berkeley Institute.
And that is the beauty of debate. People debate differently. And what may hurt some Senator’s feelings in
feeling attacked or feeling that it is not proper decorum
is what you call passion, Madam President. And the
people of Bermuda appreciate the passion that the
Government, the Progressive Labour Party as well as
myself , exhibit every single day.
I find it very interesting, and I have said this
term before, Madam President, that, you know, people scream your failures from the hilltops. And they will
whisper your successes . And a story that I have with a
particular gentleman whom Senator Tucker might know
well is that he says, Oh, man! Every time I open the
newspaper you’re in the paper. Every time I turn on the
news, you’re in the news. And my response to that individual is that this is the nature of my job. I am working
for the people. That is what it looks like to be a servant
leader.
And I do not expect Senator Robinson or his
colleague to come here and point out any of that. They
do not even bring it up in congrats and obits most of the
time. He speaks on his hurt feelings and what he perceives as lack of decorum. But I will say this. If we want
to go down the road of decorum, Madam President, as
I am sitting here answering questions that are put forward by the One Bermuda Alliance, we could check it out. There are a couple of Senators in here who are
more concerned with operating thei r Twitter accounts
or “X,” they call it, and having political dialogue outside
of the Chamber, Madam President, while we are attempting to debate and discuss serious business for
the people of Bermuda.
So, when I say and I question if the questions
that are being asked are a political ploy, it becomes very interesting when it is a coordinated effort with pic-tures and graphics all ready to go that are actually released to the public, Madam President, from a Twitter
account while we are actually having the debate. And
while I do understand that these questions go out on
the Order Paper and are made to the press, there is a
different level of the word used by a Senate colleague,
decorum, Madam President, when screen shots of
Twitter conversations are happening as we are supposed to be here serving the people.
So while some may get offended, some may
not put on their (as they say) big- boy pants and debate
in the Senate, it is a lot easier, Madam President, to talk
and hide behind, we call those “Twitter fingers.” I will leave that there when we talk about decorum.
One Member in his motion to adjourn talked
about some political strategies that he wanted to put out there. I find it very interesting. He talks about Youth
Parliament. I am not sure if the Senator knows that contrary to what he may believe, Madam President, I have been around this place for a little while. One of my previous servant leadership roles was the Senior Advisor
for many years of Youth Parliament in Bermuda. So, while certain Senators may wish to give us a lesson,
maybe for his Twitter followers, about what should be
done and what can be done, I would like to say, Madam President, we have been there, done that and continue
to engage with Youth Parliament and other youth or-ganisations. So this is not a new concept.
Madam President, I will go on. A certain Senator brought up, I guess, it is election reform. The inter-esting thing is that I entered this, call it political realm,
in a different capacity way back in 2005 maybe, 2006.
And we heard a lot about political ref orm then. And in
2012 something interesting happened. The same
group of individuals who had political ideologies and all
this election reform, they actually won an election. It
was a brief stint. They did not do anything for the people. But they actually w on an election! They actually became the Government, Madam President. And from
2012 to 2017 not one piece of legislation on political or
election reform was passed.
But here we are when they are back in Opposition going back to those same talking points about absentee balloting and other forms of engagement that
they could do or should do or would do if they were the
Government. But we saw none of it during the time t hat
they actually were supposed to be serving the people.

GOVERNMENT TRAVEL EXPENSES

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: And then there was another Senator who is becoming quite the superstar on
the streets. And I am interested. I am shocked that he
was able to put some notes together, being so much
activity was going on online while we were in Senate. I am not sure. But the discussion that came from another
Senator in motion to adjourn was about ministerial
travel. The Senator started by talking about, he does a
lot of travel for work. And it goes back to that speech I
mentioned a couple of weeks ago where we talk about
Two Bermudas. And he starts his speech by talking
about, Well, I do a lot of travel for work. But yet when
you talk . . . because clearly that travel for work must
be important. I mean, surely for work that Senator is not getting on a plane to go on a jaunt. It is important work,
yes?
I have got news for that Senator, Madam President. I have said it before, and it is offensive when I get
up and I go to work every single day to work for the
people of this country. And sometimes, whether it be
me or whether it be other political colleagues who have the title of Minister because that is their job. It is times
that, because we live in a jurisdiction which is an island,
you must travel. So, when we talk about those Two Bermudas, Madam President, why is it okay for him? He
says, I do lots of t ravel for work. But yet when some
Ministers have travelled once in three years or very sparingly, a travel website which was put in place by
the Progressive Labour Party Government on transparency, some will find it interesting to go through and see


Bermuda Senate how much a Minister spent on some French fries while
in New York City. Two Bermudas, Madam President.
It is okay for some to get on a plane and go to
work, but it is not okay for a Minister of the Government
to go and do serious business and engage with individ-uals in other jurisdictions, which leads to tangible action, Madam President. And since Senator D e Couto
has spent a lot of time on this travel website, he will
notice that the transparency is there. And if he pulled
out his calculator, he would see that not one—

[The Honourable Minister] is misleading the Senate. The Finance Minister’s
travel was not included. Thank you, Madam President.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, of the
ones that are there, the Senator will see that not one of
the Progressive Labour Party Ministers who have travelled . . . he can go back to 2017, that is the beauty. Not
one of these travel expenses gets even close to the
$30,000 spent by a One Bermuda Alliance Minister to
go to Brazil! Not one.
Madam President, I can say categorically, and
I have said this before, that there is a difference be-tween travelling and coming back with no action and travelling to work, having engagements and then seeing tangible results. And that is why, Madam Preside nt,
I say that a lot of this political posturing is about theat-rics. It is theatrics, Madam President! The newest retread (I am not sure which one) Senator that we have,
gets his feelings hurt quite often. But if he would do his
homework, Madam President, do some research, [he
would] understand that the decorum of which he
speaks about comes in many different forms.
And I can say, hand over heart, Madam President, that when I walk here and go straight back to my office to work, the people of which we serve are grateful
for the work that we put in, grateful for the time that
elected officials, appointed officials as he says, all of us
spend away from our families. So while some may, Madam President, be entertained by the graphics and the Twitters and the back -and-forth . . . You can check
it when you get a chance. It is quite cute actually. While
some of them might be e nthralled by the theatrics,
when I leave here today, when I leave the Government
Administration Building every morning, every evening,
when I leave the Cabinet Office after a long day of Cab-inet meetings, when I do have to get on a plane and
leave my six -year-old and twelve- year-old behind, Madam President, it is all in the name of service to the people.
And I am glad and I am happy that . . . at any
time we are asked questions, we are happy to list out
the rationale, the accomplishments, the objectives and see tangible results that are happening in this Island for
the people of Bermuda.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
With that, Senators, we stand adjourned until
Monday, the 18
th of December. Thank you all for your
[participation].

[At 1:20 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until 10:00 am, Monday, 18 December 2023.]


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