November 26, 2025

2025/26 SESSION of the
BERMUDA SENATE
OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT
26 NOVEMBER 2025
Sitting number 15 of the 2025/2026 Session
(pages 561–586)
Sen. The Hon. Jo an E. D illas-Wrigh t, MBE, JP
President
Disclaimer
: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for
informational purposes only. The print ed version remains the official
recor
d.

Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 561
B ermuda Senate BERMUD A SENATE
OFFICIA L HANSAR D REPORT
26 NOVEMBER 2025
10:06 AM
Sitting Number 15 of t he 2025/2 026 Session
[Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright , President , presid-
ing]
The President: Good morning, Senators.
The Senate is in session.
Shall we pray?
PRAYERS
[
Prayers read by Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright ,
President ]
CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
[Minutes of 12 November 2025]
The President: Confirmations of the M inutes of the
12th of November 2025.
I call on Vice President , John Wight.
Sen. John Wight: Good morning, Madam President.
The President: Good morning to you.
Sen. John Wight: I move that the minutes of the meet-
ing of Wednesday , 12 November 2025, be taken as
read.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Sen. John Wight: Madam President, I move that the
Minutes of Wednesday , 12 November 2025, be con-
firmed.
The President : Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Minutes are confirmed.
[
Minutes of 12 November 2025 confirmed]
The President: Thank you, Vice President , John
Wight.
MESSAGES
The President: Mrs. Beale.
The Deputy Clerk: There are no messages , Madam
President . The President: Thank you, Mrs. Beal e.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
The President: There are none.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
APOLOGIES
The President: Senators, I would just like to advise
that we did have information from Minister Wilk erson,
the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, that she is travelling and therefore will not be in attendance here. W e will have Minister Crystal Caesar taking
charge today and acting as the G overnment Minister in
charge.
The second announcement is in the name of
Senator Lauren Bell, Junior Minister for Health.
Senator Bell.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BERMUDA H OSPITALS BOARD
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
Sen. Lauren Bell: Good morning, Madam President,
colleagues and listening audience.
I hereby present for the information of Senate
the 2021 Bermuda Hospitals Board Annual Report.
Senators may access copies on their tablets and/ or the
Parliament website.
The President: Thank you, Senator Bell.
The next announcement is in the name of Sen-
ator Mis cha G. F ubler, the Junior Minister of Tourism
and Transport, Culture and Sport.
Senator F ubler, you have the floor.
FAIRMONT SOUTHAMPTON HOTEL AND RESORT
MASTER PLAN (SOUTHAMPTON PARISH)
SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT ORDER 2025
Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President.
I hereby present for the information of the Sen-
ate the Fairmont Southampton Hotel and Resort Mas-ter Plan ( Southampton Parish) Special Development
Order 2025 as made by the M inister responsible for
Planning in exercise of the power conferred by section
15(1) of the Development and Planning Act 1974.
562 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Senators may access copies on their tablets
and/or the Parliament website.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Mis cha Fubler,
Junior Minister of Tourism and Transport, Culture and
Sport.

NOTICE S OF MOTION S
The President: We do have notice of a motion, and
that is in the name of Senator Mis cha Fubler, the Junior
Minister of Public Works and the Environment.
Senator Fubler, you have the floor.

CLEAN AIR AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2025

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you again, Madam Presi-
dent.
I hereby present for the consideration of Sen-
ate the Clean Air Amendment Regulations 2025 pro-
posed to be made by the Minister responsible for the
Environment in exercise of the power conferred by sec-
tion 11 of the Clean Air Act 1991 . I give notice that at a
later point in the meeting I will move that said draft R eg-
ulations be approved. Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Fubler.

PETITIONS

The President: There are none.

STATEMENTS
The President: We have one Statement this morning
and that is in the name of Senator Lindsay K. Simmons, the Junior Minister for Youth, Social Development and
Seniors.
Senator Simmons, you have the floor.

INTRODUCTION OF THE ATLANTIC CHILD
ADVOCACY ALLIANCE

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Presi-
dent.
Madam President, I rise this morning very
much pleased to share with my h onourable colleagues
about an exciting and progressive initiative, the Atlantic
Child Advocacy Alliance .
Madam President , you may recall that in Sep-
tember this year, the G overnment of Bermuda and the
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
(FCDO) entered into a formal agreement through a let-
ter of intent that formalised the intention to closely col-
laborate for improving child advocacy services in the
British Overseas Territories across the North and South
Atlantic. The letter of intent was officially signed by Mr. Stephen Doughty , MP , UK Minister of State for British
Overseas Territories on behalf of t he UK Foreign, Com-
monwealth and Development Office and the UK Gov-
ernment , committing to facilitate the foundation of an
Atlantic Child Advocacy Alliance with the Ministry of
Youth, Social Development and Seniors on behalf of
the Bermuda Government.
Madam President , as a foundation, Bermuda
has made significant strides to ensure a sustainable
high-quality litigation guardian service in the long term.
Key actions include the development of L itigation
Guardian Practice Guidance and the strengthening of
the relationship with the J udiciary. The Atlantic Child
Advocacy Alliance will now facilitate formal best prac-
tice training in litigation guardian services across the
North and South Atlantic region, enhancing cross -juris-
dictional capabilities. Supported by the financial com-
mitment of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Devel-
opment Office and the extensive knowledge and expe-
rience of consultant Anthony Douglas , CBE, Bermuda
has taken the lead in creating a comprehensive litiga-
tion guardian framework culminating in the establish-
ment of the Office of the Litigation Guardian in March
2024 .
This achievement is a testament of the Gov-
ernment's vision and commitment to safeguarding chil-dren. It is one that should be celebrated by all of us. Bermuda stands as a model of excellence for British
Overseas Territories throughout the Atlantic region,
demonstrating what can be accomplished when com-
mitment and collaboration align in pursuits of the best interests of our children.
Madam President, this partnership empha-
sises child safeguarding as an overriding priority. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
(or FCDO ) has commissioned Mr. Anthony Douglas,
CBE, consultant on safeguarding, to steer the building
of the A lliance and has funded a consultancy from July
2025 through March 2026. Both the UK and Bermuda Governments will work collaboratively to develop the
Child Atlantic Advocacy Alliance for Child Advocacy
Services. This alliance will pool expertise from Ber-
muda and the Southern Ocean British Overseas Terri-
tories, namely the Falkland Islands, S aint Helena, As-
cension Island and Tristan da Cunha.
Madam President, this will be a reciprocal ar-
rangement that aims to address the technical needs of each territory by facilitating the sharing of knowledge
and expertise regarding litigation guardian services
within a structured framework. The partnership builds upon the past three years of technical support provided
to Bermuda by the UK FCDO, which was instrumental
in shaping and strengthening Bermuda's litigation
guardian services .
Madam President, the initiative seeks to ex-
plore the capacity for child advocacy across the South-ern Atlantic British Overseas Territories. For this pur-
pose, child advocacy encompasses both lay advocacy
and the children's guardian role into various forms. The
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 563

Bermuda Senate smaller size of these territories compared to Bermuda
means that the need for litigation guardian arises only
occasionally. Therefore, litigation guardians and gov-
ernments in these regions see value in establishing a
link with Bermuda.
For example, a litigation guardian from the
Falkland Islands could be an option for assignment to
a Bermuda case if Bermuda's capacity is limited or if
specific circumstances make it more appropriate to in-
volve a guardian from another overseas territory. B er-
muda might reciprocate should this be possible and in
the best interest of the child in question in other territo-
ries. Such exchanges will proceed only if collaborative
advantage can be established; that is, the exchange is
beneficial for both overseas t erritories.
Madam President, as part of the Atlantic Alli-
ance programme, there will be virtual training sessions
for six months for all overseas territories, which com-
menced in September and will continue until February
2026. The first training module focused on identifying
and inter vening on behalf of children and young people
experiencing neglect. Overall, the outcomes of the
training include:
• establishing a practical model of reciprocity
across the Atlantic Overseas Territories and a
mutual offer that can be accessed in the future
as needed;
• developing updated Litigation Guardian Prac-
tice Guidance and Practice Directions for use
in family cases in the Bermuda courts, thereby
improving child- centred case practi ce;
• creating Island Practice Standards for S aint
Helena and the Falkland Islands;
• supporting the British Overseas Territory, S aint
Helena, in developing a lay guardian service,
which has already been achieved.
Madam President, as we have strengthened
the litigation guardian framework in Bermuda, many
valuable lessons can be learned from our experiences
and established best practi ces, while acknowledging
that other [ British ] Overseas Atlantic Territories face
similar challenges and are at different stages in their
safeguarding journeys .
The Atlantic Child Advocacy Alliance repre-
sents a significant step forward in child safeguarding. By pooling resources, delivering targeted training and
fostering reciprocal support , the Alliance aims to en-
sure that every territory benefits from enhanced capa-bility and cooperation, ultimately prioritising the best in-
terests of children no matter where they reside.
In closing, Madam President, let me state that
there is much work being undertaken to develop a sus-
tainable quality litigation guardian framework for Ber-
muda, and specifically for our children so that their
voices are heard. In February of 2026, I will be present-
ing the final Litigation Guardian Practice Guidance for
Bermuda that the consultant is currently working [ on]
with the Ministry to develop. I will also share about other
initiatives that have been embedded in the litigation guardian programme to continue to strengthen and
support the services of the Office of the Litigation
Guardian.
Thank you, Madam President .
The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons,
Junior Minister of Youth, Social Development, and Sen-
iors.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS

The President: Senators, before I move on, I would
just like to acknowledge visitors that we have in the Chamber here this morning . And that is Dr. Freddie Ev-
ans, the Registrar General, Je annn St ovell, Charities
Compliance Administrator, and Anthony King, [of] the
Registrar [of Companies] .
Welcome to all three of you.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

COMPANIES (PROHIBITION OF BEARER SHARES
AND NOMINEE DIRECTORS)
AMENDMENT ACT 2025
The President: The following public Bill has been re-
ceived from the Honourable House of Assembly and is now read for the first time.
Its title is the Compan ies (Prohibition of Bearer
Shares and Nominee Directors ) Amendment Act 2025.

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

QUESTION PERIOD
The President: Senators, we will now entertain ques-
tions on the Statement that has just been read out by
Senator Simmons.
Would any S enator care to ask —Senator Cun-
ningham, Opposition Leader of the Senate, you have the floor.

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident, and good morning. And thank you to Senator
Simmons for that Statement. And I will agree, it is great
to see things moving forward.

QUESTION 1: INTRODUCTION OF THE ATLANTIC
CHILD ADVOCACY ALLIANCE

564 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Victoria Cunningham: I think one question I
have is, D o we have enough current social workers and
family support staff to complement litigation guardians?

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Yes, Madam President, we
do.

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: And then a second ques-
tion, if I may.

The President: Second question.

QUESTION 2: INTRODUCTION OF THE ATLANTIC
CHILD ADVOCACY ALLIANCE

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: I think it's something, you
know, Will there be performance metrics? We talk
about performance metrics in the budget, but things like
case completion timelines, impact on the child, and compliance with these practi ce standards that are com-
ing forward.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Yes. Thank you, Madam
President.

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: I will change my ques-
tions in the future. Thank you very much.
The President: Thank you.
Senator Tawana Tannock, you have the floor.
Sen. Tawana Tannock: Thank you, Madam President.
I concur. I am really pleased to see that this is moving
forward.

QUESTION 1: INTRODUCTION OF THE ATLANTIC
CHILD ADVOCACY ALLIANCE

Sen. Tawana Tannock: My first question is, how many
litigant guardians are there currently? Should I just —
[do you] want me to ask all of them at one time?
[No audible response.]

Sen. Tawana Tannock: Okay, ye s.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Yes, thank you.

QUESTION 2: INTRODUCTION OF THE ATLANTIC
CHILD ADVOCACY ALLIANCE

Sen. Tawana Tannock: So, how many litigant guardi-
ans do we currently have? Are they employed full -time
by government, or are they contracted by government? How do they provide their service? That's my second
question.
QUESTION 3: INTRODUCTION OF THE ATLANTIC
CHILD ADVOCACY ALLIANCE
Sen. Tawana Tannock: And my third question is, I
note that training will be given. Who will training be
given to? Will it be the judiciary, the prosecutors, or just
the litigant guardians?

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Currently, we have five litiga-
tion guardians, and they are not employed full -time.
They are contracted by the government. And training is also given to the litigation guardians and the judiciary.
They are not employees ; they are contracted.

SUPPLEMENTARIES
Sen. Tawana Tannock: Thank you.
So, following up with that, as they are not em-
ployees of the government, and they are contracted,
and we are signing on to this agreement as a govern-ment . Will this be a requirement for our litigant guardi-
ans (who are not government employees ) to participate
in this for them to be able to provide this service?
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Yes.
Sen. Tawana Tannock: One more supplemental ques-
tion. We have five currently, and I believe some are at
retirement age, if not retired, and coming in to serve.
What is the training pipeline? Will there be other people
targeted to participate in this? How are we looking at
staffing this and resourcing this, especially because we
are talking about lending these people out or loaning
these people out to other islands . . . or Southern Terri-
tories?

[Pause]

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: So, with the cases that we
have, five litigation guardians have been plenty. We
have many people who have applied to be litigation
guardians, but legislation only allows for six. But the lit-igation guardians have been able to service the cases
that we have, yes.
The President: Thank you.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: And also, I just want to reit-
erate that we have a succession plan for the litigation
guardians who are older, so that we always have litiga-
tion guardians available.

The President: Thank you, Senator Linds ay Simmons.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: You are welcome.

The President: Would any other Senator care to ask
questions on this S tatement before we close out?
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 565

Bermuda Senate Hearing none, I thank you, Senator Simmons,
for responding to the questions. And before we move
on—
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITOR
The President: Sorry, before we move on, I would just
like to acknowledge the presence of the Minister of Youth, Social Development, and Seniors, the Honour-able Tin ee Furbert , JP, MP.
Welcome to you in the C hamber.
[Question Period, continuing]

The President: There were questions that were pre-
sented to Minister Crystal C aesar, Spokesperson for
Finance, to provide written response to a Parliamentary
question by Senator Victoria Cunningham. And this
was for a written response. And, Senator Cunningham,
perhaps you would read your question and inform us
whether or not you have received a written response.

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident .

QUESTIONS: PUBLIC SCHOOL S WITHOUT PER-
MANENT TEACHING STAFF

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Can the Honourable Min-
ister please provide the Senate a list broken down by
public school listing the number and grade level of clas-
ses that are currently: (a) without a permanent teacher,
(b) being taught by a long- term or short -term substitute,
(c) being covered by other school staff outside their
substantive role, or (d) combined with another class;
and for each school, how long this arrangement has
been in place, including the longest period any class
has remained without a permanent classroom teacher?
Sen. Victoria Cunningham: And to this point in time, I
do not have a response.

[Crosstalk]

The President: Yes. Senators, we are advised that the
response has been received, but we will ensure that
Senator Cunningham is in receipt of the written re-
sponse.
And I believe there are additional questions, I
think, from Senator Cunningham. And this is for oral re-
sponse today.
Senator Cunningham, would you like to read
your second question?
QUESTION 1: GIFTED AND
TALENTED EDUCATION, UPDATE ON

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Yes, thank you, Madam
President.
So last week we heard, or the last session,
while gifted and talented education is being reignited, can the Honourable Minister please provide the Senate
an outline of the resources that are currently being in-
vested to stabilise classroom teaching across t he entire
primary school system, given the widespread reports of
prolonged vacancies, rotating substitutes, and classes
without permanent teachers, issues that directly under-
mine students' ability to meet grade- level expecta-
tions?

The President: Minister Caesar.

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam
President.
Yes, I do have a response. And I first would like
to say that substitute teachers are a necessary teach-
ing resource in public education and school districts
around the world. When posts are vacant, substitute
teachers are secured to fill those posts. Additionally,
teachers are entitled to leave by law. And as per their
collective bargaining agreement, that includes sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, dependent
leave, and personal days. And during those times, sub-
stitutes are utilised and secured.
In cases where vacancies exist, the Depart-
ment of Education continues to work throughout the
school year to recruit for vacant posts. There is a mul-
tiple of factors that can influence a student's perfor-
mance. So, there is, I guess, the inference that because
teachers are . . . there is a substitute, that there may be
a lack of ability for, or a lack of high performance. That is one factor. But there are a myriad of reasons as to
why students may not be giving certain achievements.
I understand that the genesis or the nexus of
this particular question is around substitute teachers. But substitutes can be engaged for the entire year,
which will give some level of continuity and disruption is minimised. Because substitutes often, or ar e (I
shouldn't say often, but they are) qualified teachers.
They are licen sed also to deliver the curriculum.
Moreover, primary school students naturally
progress through grade levels. So, they transition year
after year to new teachers. So having a year -long sub-
stitute would not necessarily impact, again, the level of
consistency for which that child is receiving instruction.
And therefore, the presence of the substitute does not
in itself create instability, but rather a year -long substi-
tute, in particular , creates or continues the expected
rhythm and instruction that students receive.

The department and schools work together to
provide a wide range of mechanisms that maintain con-tinuity for primary school students when substitutes are
566 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate leading classrooms. And those include, but are not lim-
ited to (if I could go through them):
• Qualified substitutes who are licensed by the
Bermuda Educators Council, which ensures
that classrooms are led by teachers with veri-
fied qualifications and content knowledge,
thereby safeguarding instructional quality.
• Substitutes also participate in professional de-
velopment days and/or courses that are pro-
vided by the department and schools, which
strengthen their teaching capacity and aligns
with their practices and those which are ex-
pected by the respective school at which they
are assigned.
• All staff, including substitute and substantive
teachers, are provided with the curriculum so that educators teach from the same framework
and maintain a level of continuity of teaching
and learning for their students. There are also
standardised pacing gu ides, which are distrib-
uted across schools to assist with lesson pro-
gression and instructional pacing.
• Proficiency scales, examples of formative and
summative assessments, differentiation in
strategies and accommodations are shared to
guide assessment practices.
• Curriculum officers and school leaders conduct
classroom observations to monitor the quality
of instruction and assessment and the imple-
mentation and pacing of the curriculum for sub-
stantive postholders and substitutes.
• And finally, curriculum officers and school lead-
ers conduct regular gradebook support and
checks, maintaining accountability for student
progress and ensuring reporting to guide timely
interventions.
And so, with that fulsome answer, I think I have
provided a response to the Senator's question.

The President: Senator Cunningham.

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: That was quite an ex-
tended response. I'll move on to my [next] question.

The President: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION 2: GIFTED AND
TALENTED EDUCATION, UPDATE ON

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Can the Honourable Min-
ister please inform the Senate what protections are be-ing put in place for primary school students who may be falling behind because repeated teacher turnover
and long- term reliance on substitutes have been sys-
temic issues resulting in inconsistent instruction across
multiple schools?
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam
President. While teacher turnover and the long- term reli-
ance on substitutes are often cited as concerns, it is
important to emphasise that these are also global real-
ities and not the only reasons why students may not
meet established standards. Student performance is in-
fluenced by a wide range of different factors, including
individual learning, attendance patterns, family circum-
stances, health and well -being, and broader socioeco-
nomic challenges or conditions.
The Bermuda public school system has a
framework that systematically integrates assessment
and intervention to meet the needs of each and every
student. And I have spoken about it previously in this
forum. It is called the Multi -Tiered System of Support,
or MTSS, the practices and protocols of which are un-
der the MTSS umbrella provide methods for assessing
the needs of students and improving their academic outcomes through a series of interventions and strate-
gies.
There is a universal screening, standardised
assessments, observations, and other quantitative and
qualitative student data which are analysed and moni-
tored by each MTSS team. They meet twice a month
and document their findings and there are follow -ups
on all decisions made to ensure that students achieve
maximum improvement in their studies.
I am happy to go through specifically the differ-
ent tiers with Senator Cunningham. It is quite extensive
in terms of what the team provides as support, so I am happy to do that. But as an overall answer to the ques-
tion, there are several different factors which obviously
affect a child's performance, but there is an MTSS team
that meets twice monthly on their findings and any sort
of guidelines which are required for students who are
presenting or need additional support. But like I said, I
am happy to go i nto detail.
I am not sure we want to do it at this time, but I
am happy to do so if the Senator would like.

The President: Thank you, Minister.
Senator Cunningham.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: I thank you for that oppor-
tunity.
I have one slight follow -up in relation to that.
So, with this team or within the Ministry, are there any
kind of system -wide assessments of any academic im-
pacts? You know, and you mentioned a whole raft of
things. The classroom disruptions are one, but on the
impacts on their numeracy and literacy of these stu-
dents.

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: I am sorry, can you
state that again? Are there . . .
Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Have there been any kind
of impact studies, you know, does that team do
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 567

Bermuda Senate anything that assesses whether these students are ac-
tually being impacted by the classroom disruptions for
numeracy and literacy?
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Well, the team does an
overall assessment of what is happening in the class-
room, right? And so, it is as it pertains to numeracy,
literacy, and things affecting a child's ability to attain.
And so, there is an overall study done as it pertains to
particular children who may be presenting for certain
reasons in a classroom.
There is a team that provides support. And it is
not just the MTSS, but there are other supports as well:
the classroom teacher, the principal, educational offic-
ers as well, which all provide some sort of assessment
and/or review of what is happening in the classroom.

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Thank you very much.

The President: Thank you, Senator Cunningham.
Thank you, Minister Caesar, for your response.
With that said, that completes the Q uestion Period.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The President: The first Order of the Day is the second
reading of the Charities Amendment Act 2025, and that
is in the name of Senator Lindsay K. Simmons, the Jun-
ior Minister for Youth, Social Development, and Sen-iors.
Senator Simmons, you have the floor.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Presi-
dent.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
Charities Amendment Act 2025 be now read a second
time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

BILL

SECOND READING

CHARITIES AMENDMENT ACT 2025
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Presi-
dent.
Madam President, the purpose of this Bill be-
fore the Senate today is to amend the Charities Act
2014 to enhance the oversight of privately funded char-ities (PFCs) that are exempted from registration due to
their association with a licens ed corporate service pro-
vider.
Madam President, currently under the Chari-
ties Act 2014 ( the Act ), a registration framework is im-
posed on both publicly funded and privately funded charities. It establishes a risk -based supervisory frame-
work in conjunction with the Charities Regulations 2014
and the Charities (Anti -Money Laundering, Anti -Terror-
ist Financing and Reporting) Regulations 2014 (to-
gether, the Regulations ) that place obligations on char-
ities to meet certain regulatory and compliance stand-
ards.
The Act sets out the requirements for registra-
tion of both publicly funded and privately funded chari-
ties, whereas the Regulations set out the legal duties
and requirements a charity's trustees must comply with,
which includes carrying out due diligence and monitor-
ing in relation to the charity's involvement with external
bodies and individuals.
Madam President, in 2018, the Act was
amended to allow for the exemptions from registrations
of PFCs [privately funded charities], as well as exempt-ing them from the provision of the Act and the regula-
tions whereas the PFC could demonstrate that they
were managed by a corp orate service provider or a
trust service provider. Instead, PFCs would be regis-
tered on a separate, non- public registry because these
PFCs are overseen by other regulatory bodies, namely
the Bermuda Monetary Authority and the Registrar of
Companies. Their oversight was deemed comparable
to the Registrar General’s [registry] and did not need to
be carried out by both organisations.
[Pause]

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: I am sorry, Madam Presi-
dent.
[Pause]

[Crosstalk]

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you.
The policy intent behind that amendment was
to address a gap in oversight of non- profit organisa-
tions (NPOs) , which was identified during the National
Anti-Money Laundering Committee's (NMLAC's) 2016
Assessment of Bermuda’s National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk.
Madam President, after implementing the
amended Act and the 2020 update to Bermuda’s Na-
tional Assessment of Terrorist Financial Risk in the NPO [non -profit organisation] sector, it was determined
that the exemption provided to PFCs that engage the services of a corporate service provider does not achieve the intended policy purpose.
Whilst the exemption granted to PFCs that en-
gage the services of a trust service provider was deemed sufficient due to the level of services provided
as a result of the fiduciary relationship that exists be-
tween each entity, the same conclusion cannot be drawn for a PFC who engages a corporate service pro-
vider.
568 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Madam President, the nature of services pro-
vided by a corporate service provider to a PFC is en-
tirely dependent on the contract of service between the
parties. Any compliance with the PFC would only apply
depending on the nature of the contractual relationship with the cor porate service provider, particularly if those
services are not subject to oversight from another reg-
ulatory body. Without knowledge of the details of the
contractual relationship between a PFC and the corpo-
rate service provider, the Regis trar General cannot de-
termine whether the PFC will be managed in a manner
consistent with the requirements set out in the regula-
tions and Recommendation 8 of the FATF, which pro-
vides a global standard for how NPOs are governed for
anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing
(AML/AFT) purposes.
Madam President, at present, the provision for
exemptions given to PFCs in the Act do not authorise
the Registrar General to consider the level of service
the corporate service provider has been engaged to
perform for the PFC and whether it is sufficient to sat-isfy the requirements set out in the regulations. While
some corporate service providers may perform a full
range of administrative functions for PFCs, others may
only have a nominal role or may have been engaged at the point of incorporation, leaving the PFC to manage
itself.
Where the corporate service provider is not
contracted to manage or control the charitable opera-
tions of the PFC, then the AML/ATF requirements only
cover the corporate service provider's duty to know their own client s, the private funded charity, and do not
extend to them doing ongoing due diligence, including monitoring of recipients of the charity's funds to ensure they are not being diverted for money laundering or ter-
rorist financing (AML/ATF) purposes. In such cases,
the exemption creates a gap in the oversight of the pri-
vately funded charity, which can expose it to height-
ened anti -money laundering and terrorist financing risk
with no mechanism in place to ensure that such risk is
being actively mitigated, either through oversight by a
regulatory body that monitors the corporate service
provider or by the Registrar General's direct oversight.
Madam President, the Bermuda Association of
Licens ed Trustees (BALT) and the Society of Trust and
Estate Practitioners (STEP) were consulted on the pro-
posed amendments to the Act as it relates to the ex-
emption afforded to privately funded charities that en-
gage in the services of a corporate service provid er pur-
suant to section 18(4) of the [principal] Act. A consulta-
tion paper with regard to the proposed amendments
was issued to BALT and STEP on the 27th of January
2023 inviting their feedback. On the 18th of May [ 2023] ,
a meeting was held with both BALT and STEP to dis-
cuss their joint response to the consultation paper and
to reconfirm the Bermuda Government's position with the proposed amendments. An understanding was
reached as to reasons for the proposed amendments,
and both BALT and STEP suggested an additional amendment to section 18(4) of the [principal] Act to ex-
pand the provision to include privately funded charities
that are administered by private trust companies. On
the 30th of September 2025, a c opy of the Bill was sent
to BALT and STEP for their review and final feedback.
Madam President, the Bill seeks to empower
the Registrar General to ensure that the level of over-sight of a privately funded charity ’s activity by corporate
service providers mirrors that of the Registrar General’s oversight of registered charities with respect to the Act,
regulations, and FATF standards .
The Bill enhances the oversight of privately
funded charities that are exempted from registration with the Registrar General by giving him the authority
to request a copy of the service agreement between the
PFC and their corporate service provider for all appli-
cable PFCs that are currently on the exempted register. All new applications for exempted status by PFCs must
include the operative service agreement with a corpo-
rate service provider. If the service agreement does not
demonstrate that there is an appropriate level of over -
sight of the PFC's activities, then the PFC will be re-quired to register as a charity pursuant to section 17 of
the [principal] Act and will not be exempted from the
provisions of the Act or regulations.
Madam President, the Bill further mandates
that a PFC must automatically notify the Registrar Gen-eral if and when the nature of the relationship with the
corporate service provider changes within 30 days, a
provision provided in the Bill that imposes a penalty for
failure to notify the Registrar General of any changes in
the relationship.
Additionally, Madam President, the Registrar
General is given the discretion to grant an exemption
by determining whether the PFC qualifies or remains
eligible for an exemption.
In closing, Madam President, the Charities
Amendment Act 2025 is our commitment to improve
upon the legal framework for oversight of charities by
introducing measures that ensure compliance with
FATF standards and [our commitment] that the local
NPO sector remains low risk for terrori st financing.
Madam President, thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons,
Junior Minister for Youth, Social Development and
Seniors.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITOR

The President: And, Senators, before I open the floor
for Senators to ask questions, I would just like to acknowledge also in the Chamber the Permanent Sec-retary Valerie Robinson- James, the Permanent Secre-
tary of Youth.
Welcome to you, Madam.

Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 569

Bermuda Senate [The Charities Amendment Act 2025, s econd reading
debate, continuing]

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Cunningham, you have the floor.
Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
And at the outset, I will declare my interest that
I am the Executive Director of a Bermuda Registered
Charity, but it is listed in the Register of Interests. I'm
actually filing our re- registration this afternoon.
So, I oversee charities close to my heart, I think
close to most people's hearts, but I think we are sup-
portive of these changes, ultimately looking at modern-
ising and ensuring that these privately funded organi-sations have the proper professional and AML/ ATF
oversight. It brings us in line, obviously, globally with
compliance. So, I think we support and it helps us main-
tain our reputation.
So, thank you very much.

The President: Thank you.
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
For those of us who perhaps are not quite as
well versed in this area, I just would like some clarifica-
tion, if I may. So, we are now . . . this Bill provides for
allowing exemptions for certain charities. And I am try-
ing to understand who is currently governing these
charities that under this B ill will now no longer need to
be governed other than through, if you are a licens ed
trustee or you are a corporate service provider. So, I'm
trying to understand what the current process is, why
that is not working as effectively as it should, and why
we are changing to the new system.
And secondly, there is reference to a corporate
service provider [CSP] needing to demonstrate an ad-
equate level of AML/ ATF. That sounds like a pretty
broad statement. I am just trying to understand how ex-
actly a CSP can demonstrate that and who they demonstrat e it to. So, and why, again, just for my own
understanding, why are we distinguishing between pri-
vately funded and publicly funded? Why . . .
So, those are my questions, Madam President.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator John Wight.
Would any other Senator care to ask questions
while the Junior Minister is obtaining a response?
We will wait for the response then.

[Pause]

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, in my
[brief] , I did read that the exemptions are in place for
the PFCs. [Pause]
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: So, this Bill is not allowing
exemptions. They are already granted. The Bill is to en-
sure exempt charities have oversight with regard to the AML/ATF requirements. So, it is actually just . . . it is
the safeguard that we are putting around.
The President: Senator Wight . . . Vice President
Wight.
Sen. John Wight: If I can just ask. So, for further clar-
ification, in the explanatory memorandum, it says,
“Clause 2 amends Section 18 of the Act to expand the
categories of privately funded charities to be exempted
. . .”. So, that would suggest that they are currently be-
ing registered. And I am just trying to understand who
currently registers, or who . . . yes, who has oversight
currently for those charities that under this Bill will no
longer need to be . . . provide oversight because it is
being done by a CSP or a licens ed trustee?

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you.
This amendment allows the Registrar to re-
quest more information from the corporate service pro-
vider to ensure the existing exemptions should stay in
place where they continue to [have] adequate supervi-
sion. The supervision provided must be a structured
framework of policies, processes, and procedures that
regulate a PFCs activity to prevent, detect, and report
illegal financial acts.
The supervision provided must significantly
align with the requirements of the FA TF Recommenda-
tion 8 and mirror the oversight [that] the Registrar Gen-
eral provides over registered charities, which includes
but is not limited to the following:
• conduct ongoing monitoring of the PFC rela-
tionship with any beneficiaries, donors, or part-ners;
• take reasonable measures to establish the
identities of donors, beneficiaries, and partners where there is a reasonable risk of money laun-
dering and tariff financing;
• ensure any payment and beneficiaries and
partners are appropriately monitored;
• identify international transactions and keep a
record and analyse, therefore separate from
domestic transactions;
• risk assessment and management of the
PFC's activities; and
• maintain records of the PFC's transactions for
a period of at least seven years.

The President: Senator Wight —

Sen. John Wight: Well, I guess I go back to my original
question. So, if a charity is registered currently, what is the annual filing process? Who actually receives the
570 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate information to make sure that the charity is conducting
itself in accordance with the rules and regulations?
So just going back to like the basics of how a
charity works and, you know, I know there is an annual
filing that has got to be done. There is a charity's com-
mission of some sort that reviews that work to ensure
that the charity is operating in accordance with the
Charities Act . So, I guess I'm just trying to under-
stand—

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Yes, you go through the Reg-
istrar General for that. The paperwork is filed through
them.
Sen. John Wight: So, the Registr ar General, okay.
So . . . for currently all the charities that are not
exempted, the Regist rar General conducts that work?

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Yes. Correct.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, [Junior] Minister .
And I guess going back to . . . why are we sep-
arating publicly funded from privately funded?
What is the . . . why do we only provide exemp-
tions going forward for privately funded charities and not . . . what is the distinguishing factor between a pri-
vately funded and one where the public is providing, where the government's providing funding?

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Currently, the Regist rar Gen-
eral provides exemption to these organisations which
are privately funded, meaning they do not raise funds
from the public.
Sen. John Wight: I will leave it at that.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator, Vice President ,
John Wight.
Would any other Senator care to ask questions
on this Bill?
Senator Tannock, you have the floor.
Sen. Tawana Tannock: Yes, thank you. Just to sum-
marise, I think , the discussion that I just heard. So es-
sentially, Senator Simmons is saying that currently
these charities that receive funds from private donors
are not subject to the same type of scrutiny that the
charities that receive funds from public sources are.
So therefore, this is to bring them under more
scrutiny and to be in accordance with AML regulation.
Is that correct?

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, the con-
cern is where the funds are coming from and to make sure that there is no terrorist financing.

The President: Senator Tannock, are you satisfied
with the response? [No audible response.]

The President: That said, are there any other ques-
tions from other Senators regarding this Bill?
If not, then I call on Senator Simmons to pass
your Bill.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Presi-
dent.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
Charities Amendment Act 2025 be now read a second time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Presi-
dent. I move that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended in
respect of this Bill.

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

CHARITIES AMENDMENT ACT 2025

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I move
that the Bill entitled Charities Amendment Act 2025 be now read a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third read-
ing?
No objection.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I move
that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
Charities Amendment Act 2025 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Charities Amendment Act 2024
was read a third time and passed.]
The President: Thank you, Senator Linds ay Simmons,
Junior Minister for Youth, Social Development and
Seniors, and thank you to Senators who have re-
sponded.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you.

Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 571

Bermuda Senate The President: We will now move on to the second
item on our Orders of the Day, and that is the second
reading of the Companies ( Prohibition of Bearer
Shares and Nominee Directors ) Amendment Act 2025.
And that is in the name of Senator the Honourable
Crystal C. Caesar, Minister of Education and Spokes-
person for Finance.
Minister Caesar, you have the floor.

STANDING ORDER 25

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam
President.
Madam President, I move that the provisions of
Standing Order 25 be granted so that the Senate may
now proceed with the second reading of the B ill entitled
the Companies ( Prohibition of Bearer Shares and Nom-
inee Directors ) Amendment Act 2025.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Leave granted for the Companies (Pro-
hibition of Bearer Shares and Nominee Directors)
Amendment Act 2025 to be read a second time on the same day as their first reading.]

BILL

SECOND READING

COMPANIES (PROHIBITION OF BEARER SHARES
AND NOMINEE DIRECTORS)
AMENDMENT ACT 2025
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam
President.
Madam President, the Bill before the Senate is
the Companies (Prohibition of Bearer Shares and Nom-
inee Directors) Amendment Act 2025. This Bill further
enhances Bermuda’s transparency and beneficial own-
ership framework on legal persons through amend-ments to the Companies Act 1981 and the Limited Lia-
bility Company Act 2016. The amendments are aimed
at preventing and mitigating the risks of misuse of
bearer shares, bearer share warrants, and alternate di-
rectors, as well as providing further clarity on the prohi-bitions of nominee directors in Bermuda and address-
ing record- keeping requirements for discontinued com-
panies.
Madam President, [Senators] will be aware
that Bermuda is preparing for its Fifth Round Mutual
Evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task
Force, which is scheduled to begin in October 2026. In
2018, Bermuda was assessed by the same body and was found to have a robust and transparent beneficial
ownership legislative regime. However, in March of
2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) strength-
ened the international standards on beneficial ownership of legal persons by amending Recommen-dation 24 to better prevent and deter the misuse of le-
gal persons.
Madam President , the objectives of this Bill are
thus twofold. Firstly, it seeks to ensure technical com-
pliance with the revised Recommendation 24 stand-
ards issued by F ATF in 2022. Secondly, the amend-
ment seeks to address remaining recommended ac-tions , which were detailed in Bermuda's last mutual
evaluation [report ] issued in 2020.
This Bill will thus aid in ensuring Bermuda is
well prepared for its upcoming evaluation and that our
regulatory framework continues to comply with evolving
international obligations and standards.
Madam President , I will now outline the four
policy areas the Bill addresses. Firstly, the Bill amends
the Companies Act 1981 and the Limited Liability Com-
pany Act 2016 to require that existing bearer shares
and bearer share warrants be converted to registered
shares within 90 days of the legislative enactment and
details the required process for conversions. The issu-
ance of bearer instruments has long been prohibited in
Bermuda, with bearer shares having first been out-
lawed under provisions of the Companies (Introduc-
tions by Registration) Act 197 0. The revised F ATF
standards, however, require stronger controls to pre-
vent the misuse of bearer instruments given their ability
to obscure beneficial ownership information.
Madam President , the Bill secondly amends
the Companies Act 1981 to strengthen disclosure re-quirements for alternate directors by requiring that the
company’s register of directors record not only the al-
ternate director's first name, surname , and address, but
also specify that they hold the position as an alternate director and identify the director for whom they are ap-
pointed. This ensures that alternate directors are sub-
ject to the appropriate disclosure requirements.
Madam President , thirdly, the Bill augments
the definition of “director ” currently found in the Com-
panies Act 1981 by adding a provision that explicitly
prohibits nominee directors. The concept of a nominee director is not known in Bermuda, and this has been
well noted in our international evaluations . However, in
light of F ATF's revised standard, it is necessary to rein-
force this position.
And finally, Madam President , the Bill amends
the Companies Act 1981 and the Limited Liability Com-
pany Act 2016 to require that companies discontinuing
to another jurisdiction appoint a local agent to retain
their beneficial ownership register and records of ac-
count for a minimum of five years from the date of dis-
continuance . The requirement to maintain records of
account for five years after an entity ceases to exist arises out of the international standard on transparency
and tax exchange of information on request set out by
the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange In-
formation for Tax Purposes.
These requirements are already in place for liq-
uidated and dissolved companies, and this amendment
572 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate will apply the same standard to companies discontinu-
ing to another jurisdiction.
Madam President , these amendments are
technical in nature and are driven by Bermuda's effort
to align its regulatory framework with global standards. The Bill that we are debating today reflects Bermuda's
ongoing commitment to cor porate transparency and
compliance with international standards and will aid in ensuring that Bermuda is well- prepared for its F ifth
Round Mutual Evaluation when it begins next year.
Madam President , with those brief introductory
remarks, I now present the Bill entitled the Compan ies
(Prohibition of Bearer Shares and Nominee Directors )
Amendment Act 2025 and welcome comments from other Honourable [Senators] .
The President: Thank you, Minister Caesar .
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator John Wight , Vice President, you have
the floor.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
Yes, I think international regulators are insist-
ing that all countries comply with best practi ce as it re-
lates to transparency and so this to me is a, you know, no-brainer that . . . and I am certainly in full support of
this one.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Vice President John Wight .
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Tannock , you have the floor.

Sen. Tawana Tannock: Thank you, Madam President.
I note in this Bill that if a company discontinues
operations in Bermuda, they are to appoint an agent to keep a record of beneficial ownership for five years af-
ter they have left the jurisdiction. I do not see a defini-
tion in the primary Act, the Companies Act. Admittedly,
I have not looked at the Limited Liability Act for some
time, but there is no definition in the Companies Act of
“agent .” And there is no definition in these amendments
of “agent. ” So, when we say that they are to appoint an
agent who is to maintain their beneficial ownership reg-
ister, where is the direction regarding who is to be ap-
pointed? Where does that definition sit for that role?

[Pause]

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Madam President,
shall I . . .
The President: Yes, go ahead and respond, Minister
Caesar.
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Okay.
So, the meaning of an agent is the ordinary
meaning that would be given in the primary Act. And as the Senator has admittedly said, she hasn't looked at it
in some time, but that meaning is the ordinary meaning
as given in that A ct.
The President: Senator Tannock. Follow up?

Sen. Tawana Tannock: Yes, can you please direct me
to it? Thank you.

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: So, it would be not spe-
cifically . . . sorry, I misspoke. It is actually the dictionary
meaning of what an agent would be within this particu-
lar Act.

The President: Senator Tannock ?
Sen. Tawana Tannock: Can we please have the dic-
tionary meaning? Because if we are saying to compa-
nies, listen, if you discontinue operations in Bermuda
for five years, you have to appoint an agent to keep
your beneficial ownership register , they are to go to the
dictionary to determine who they can allow to do so.
Can we get more clarity around this?
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Okay. Yes. So , in ab-
sence of the specific dictionary meaning, an agent is typically any representative who a company chooses to represent them. So, more often than not, it would be an
auditor or other such type [of] person.
The President: Senator Tannock.
Sen. Tawana Tannock: But there is nothing that pro-
hibits an ordinary person, such as myself, to represent
a company as an agent. So, company “A” is wrapping
up, and they say, Tawana Tanno ck, can you . . . we are
going to sign off to authorise you to maintain our bene-ficial ownership register. Is that prohibited? Where do
we . . . how do we ensure that the agents who are being
tasked to do this actually have a fiduciary duty or, in
actual fact, will do it?

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: So, established prac-
tice would dictate that most often companies would en-
sure that whomever they choose as an agent is appro-priately or sufficiently qualified in order to represent
them. So, there is no prohibition as to whom those per-
sons would be. But we have a long established record
of typically agents being those who are appropriately
qualified in Bermuda. So, I don't think that there is any
specific language that says who an agent needs to be,
but practi ce has stood that they typically are an auditor
or some accountant or some like body that will repre-
sent those companies in these types of instances.
So no, the [answer] would be no. T here is noth-
ing stopping a company from naming you as their agent if you are suitably qualified based on their require-
ments.

Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 573

Bermuda Senate The President: Senator Tanno ck.

Sen. Tawana Tannock: Yes, thank you.
I guess my concern is that if we are looking at
this for a company that is leaving the jurisdiction to an-
other jurisdiction and trying to keep this beneficial own-
ership register for another five years, then what we are
in actual fact trying to do is to ensure that there is no
obfuscation of ownership of directors, that they are not
absconding the jurisdiction and leaving another one for a nefarious reason.
I do not trust that a company who has an ulte-
rior motive will go to an auditor or any other designated
professional if they are trying to obscure information
and appoint that person. My concern is the lack of clar-
ity around direction for agents. I think that that needs to
be reviewed and revised before this legislation goes
forward.

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: And so , I thank,
Madam President, —
The President: Yes, Senator Caesar.

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: If I may, I thank the
Senator for her concerns. The technical staff take that
advice on and will proceed as per directed by . . . as
they should. However, we just take that concern and note it going forward. If it is something that they feel that
needs to be further strengthened, they will do so and take appropriate steps. But at this time, the Act is as
stated and as written.
The President: Thank you, Minister.
Would any other S enator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Cunningham, you have the floor.

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I would say that the O pposition is pleased to
support this Bill. I think, as was mentioned, it strength-
ens our already fairly robust framework for transpar-
ency on the beneficial ownership.
I will say one thing, and I am not sure I am look-
ing at the most recent that came up from the House,
but I know in the House it was talking about the gazet-
ting versus the immediate. And I am just wanting to
make sure I am looking at the right thing because my
explanatory memorandum suggests clause 4 provides
the Act will come into operation on such day as the Min-
ister may notice in the Gazette. I just wanted to check
that that had been changed. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Cunningham.

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Madam President.

The President: Yes, Minister Caesar . Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Yes, it was noted in
another place that this paragraph was included, and it
will actually be removed. So, it is noted. You may not
have the latest, but it will be amended as appropriate.
The President: Would any other Senator care to ask
questions on this Bill?
Hearing none, then, Minister, it is over to you
for the passage of the Bill.
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam
President.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Companies (Prohibition of Bearer Shares and Nom-
inee Directors) Amendment Act 2025 be now read for
a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection . . . Oh, Senator Tannock , you are
objecting?

Sen. Tawana Tannock: Yes, Madam President, for the
reason I outlined earlier.

The President: Mm-hmm.
Would any other Senator care to voice their
concern or objection?
Senator?

Sen. John Wight: Yes, I would share Senator Tan-
nock 's comment in terms of I am not going to vote
against it today. I would vote for it, but I think she has
raised a very important point that I think , you know,
should be amended before it gets forgotten. So, I am in
favour of it, but she has raised an excellent point.
So, I would take it upon Government to heed
that strong recommendation and have it brought back
to the House and to the Senate for that brief . . . or that
minor adjustment —minor but important adjustment , I
think —to the Bill.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Vice President John Wight .
So, we have one objection.
Again, it is over to you, Minister Caesar.

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam
President.

[Crosstalk]

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Okay.
Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that [Standing Or-
der] 26 be suspended in respect of this Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
574 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate No objection.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled the Companies (Prohibition
of Bearer Shares and Nominee Directors) Amendment
Act 2025 be now read a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third read-
ing?
No objection.

BILL

THIRD READING

COMPANIES (PROHIBITION OF BEARER SHARES
AND NOMINEE DIRECTORS)
AMENDMENT ACT 2025

Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Madam President, I
move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
the Companies (Prohibition of Bearer Shares and Nom-
inee Directors) Amendment Act 2025 do now pass.
Is there an objection to that motion?
We still have the one objection. It is in the name
of [Senator] Tawana Tannock.
With that said, the Bill is passed .

[Motion carried: The Companies (Prohibition of Bearer
Shares and Nominee Directors) Amendment Act 2025
was read a third time and passed.]
The President: Thank you, Minister Caesar , for pre-
senting your Bill and Senators for your comments.
We will now move on to the third item on our
Orders of the Day and that is consideration of the Clean
Air Amendment Regulations 2025, and that is in the
name of Senator Mischa G. Fubler, the Junior Minister
of Public Works and the Environment.
Senator Fubler, you have the floor.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 71(2)
Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the provisions of Standing Order
71(2) be suspended.

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 71(2) suspended.]

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that Senate do now take under consid-
eration the Clean Air Amendment Regulations 2025 proposed to be made by the Minister responsible for
the Environment in exercise of the power conferred by
section 11 of the Clean Air Act 1991.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

DRAFT REGULATIONS

CLEAN AIR AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2025

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President.
Long before a complaint is filed, the impacts of
air pollution tell their own story. Sometimes that story is
written in a fine layer of dust on a neighbour's car.
Sometimes it arrives as a harsh odour drifting across a backyard. And sometimes, Madam President , it is felt
in the silence of families who have grown tired of re-
porting the same disturbances time and again.
Madam President , I rise today to introduce the
Clean Air Amendment Regulations 2025, which build
on and strengthen the foundations set by the Clean Air
Act 1991, ensuring it reflects today's environmental re-
alities and scientific standards. These regulations equip
Government to address long- standing concerns and
ensure that every Bermudian receives the protection
they deserve.
These regulations work in tandem with the
Clean Air Amendment Act 2024, and both will com-mence simultaneously after a short transitional period,
ensuring clarity, fairness, and effective enforcement
from the outset.
Madam President , maintaining clean air re-
quires more than goodwill. It requires clear rules
grounded in science. To that end, we are making Ber-
muda's legally enforceable limit values for key pollu-
tants more stringent, aligning them with the aspirational
targets of the United Kingdom [ UK] and European Un-
ion [EU]. These pollutants include fine particulates,
both [PM]
2.5 and [PM]10 (parts per million) , nitrogen ox-
ides and sulphur dioxide. These limit values align with
the UK air quality objective target values and the US
National Ambient Air Quality Standards . In doing so,
Bermuda will exceed the international benchmarks that larger jurisdictions use while tailoring them to our small
island context. These limits apply to all controlled
plants, from generators to waste- to-energy facilities, to
spray booths, crushers, and industrial operations. Re-
gardless of size or ownership, every operator is held to
the same scientific standard.
Madam President , odour also remains one of
the most persistent environmental concerns across
Bermuda. To address this, the regulations establish
Bermuda's first scientific standard for measuring odour using a 5:1 dilution- to-threshold ratio, meaning that if
an odour remains detectable after being diluted five times with clean air, it qualifies as a nuisance. Three
government officers have now been trained and certi-
fied in the United Kingdom as odour inspectors,
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 575

Bermuda Senate ensuring that assessments are professional, con-
sistent, and fair. If more than two nuisance odour
events are confirmed within a 12- month period, the op-
erator will be issued an emissions control order requir-
ing corrective action.
Madam President , through the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources [ DENR ] and Ber-
muda Institute of Ocean Sciences [ BIOS], Bermuda
now maintains a growing network of one large fixed -
reference method air monitoring station and seven pole- mounted indicative sensors strategically placed
near industrial areas. The current locations of these
[monitors ] are: Crow Lane, Prospect, [The] Berkeley
[Institute ], Salt us [Island] , Whitney Avenue, Dockyard,
and Southside, with more planned.
For the first time, these regulations formally
distinguish between reference- method monitors, which
are large, high- precision units that meet strict interna-
tional standards, and indicative sensors, which provide
real-time trends and early warnings and screenings.
Together they give Bermuda a reliable, data- driven pic-
ture of our air quality. Where pollution exceeds limit val-ues, enforcement action can now follow based on sci-
entific evidence rather than assumptions or dispute.
Madam President , I think it is also worth noting
that not all environmental impacts are invisible. Some
can be seen and felt, such as dust, soot, fallout, and
grime. That is why the Clean Air Amendment Act 2024 introduced statutory nuisance, a new tool designed to
address large particle fallout that may not pose a res-piratory risk but still affects people's property and peace of mind.
Under these powers, the Department of Envi-
ronment and National Resources can investigate, issue abatement orders, and, if necessary, bring matters be-
fore the Magistrates ’ Court, where fines can reach
$20,000, with daily penalties of up to $5,000. This is a fair, proportionate, and enforceable system that en-
sures every community has a clear avenue of recourse.
Madam President , these regulations also ex-
pand the list of controlled chemicals requiring import
permits, introduce a duty to report accidental releases
of nuisance odour, reduce the allowable smoke opacity
limit from 20 per cent to 15 per cent , and provide a six -
month transition period before full enforcement. These
are practical measures guided by international re-
search and public feedback.
I must also mention that the Government re-
ceived 125 written submissions and comments and
also reviewed the 89- page research document submit-
ted by the Bermuda Clean Air Coalition. These regula-
tions reflect that consultation and strike a careful bal-
ance bet ween public health, economic reality, and
community expectations.
Madam President , I want to be very clear.
These regulations are not designed to be punitive to
any particular organisation. This framework is about ac-
countability, prevention, and responsibility, ensuring
that controlled plants operate in a manner that protects the health and well -being of the surrounding commu-
nity.
The Government's goal is not to penalise but
to set clear expectations, prevent harmful emissions,
and encourage better operational practi ces across the
board. Recent media reports make this point clear. Op-
erators themselves acknowledge the issues and are
beginning to take responsibility. B ELCO recently re-
ported elevated levels of soot during the summer months, while at the same time highlighted some of
their mitigating efforts. The operator of Green Land
Dairy farm also pledged to clean up its act and impr ove
how it manages odour s and waste. This shows that the
message is getting through. Environmental responsibil-ity is a shared duty, with the understanding that the
Government sets the standards and operators must
meet them.
Madam President , many Bermudians know
these issues not from news articles or reports but from lived experiences. For some families in Pembroke [Par-
ish], soot on their patio furniture has been a monthly
reality for years. For neighbours of the dairy farm,
odours have interrupted dinners , gatherings , and sim-
ple outdoor enjoyment. These Bermudians have been
patient . They have been persistent . And they have
been heard. While these regulations will not undo years
of frustration, they represent a real legislative step for-ward, a framework that finally gives g overnment the le-
gal tools to support them and ensures their concerns
result in action.
Madam President , I must also be candid. Pass-
ing this Act and these regulations will not by themselves solve every air quality issue in Bermuda. Legislation
sets the standards, but results come from operators
taking responsibility every day , [from] c leaner opera-
tions, proper maintenance, investment in equipment,
reduction of odour releases, and responsible waste
management. These are the actions that will ultimately
deliver the clean air Bermudians deserve. The G overn-
ment has a role, regulations have a role, but the great-
est impact will come when operators take ownership of their environmental footprint. And, Madam President ,
we are beginning to see that shift.
And so , as I close, Madam President , I want to
say that Bermuda is a small island. When emissions
cross one boundary, they cross into someone's li fe,
their home, their garden, their health, their peace of
mind. With these regulations, the Government is draw-
ing a clear line that every Bermudian has a right to
clean air. Every operator has a duty to protect that right.
And this Government has the authority and the deter-mination to uphold it.
These regulations bring fairness, transpar-
ency, and modern science into our environmental pro-
tections. They give g overnment the tools to respond
quickly and decisively, and they ensure the communi-ties are no longer left without recourse.
Thank you, Madam President .

576 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Mischa Fubler,
Junior Minister for Public Works and the Environment.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS

The President: Senators, before I open the floor for
Senators to respond, I would just like to acknowledge
and welcome in the C hamber the presence of Dr. Geof-
frey Smith, the Director of the Department of Environ-
ment and Natural Resources, as well as Mr. Stephen
Symons , the Policy Analyst from the Ministry of Public
Works and the Environment. Welcome to you both.

[The Clean Air Amendment Regulations 2025 , debate
continuing]

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
[these Regulations] ?
Senator Tannock , you have the floor.
Sen. Tawana Tannock: Yes, thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
This Chamber might be relieved to hear that
this is one area in which I actually have no expertise, so I do not have much to say —

[Laughter]

Sen. Tawana Tannock: —on this . I have never been a
farmer .
I do have two comments, and the first is that
. . . and like I said, this is my limited understanding, but,
you know, being born and raised in Loyal Hill I am more than well aware of the issues that surround the farm in that particular area. That is not to pick on one particular
place; just my lived experience talking .
And when I look at the section that talks about
determining whether or not something is a noxious
odour, it lists a couple of . . . sorry, I am just trying to
. . . I do not have it in front of me. I'm going to get it right
now. It lists . . . (Yes, thank you.) It lists . . . I don't see
where it incorporates a farm setup or any type of gar-
dening or animal husbandry . . . What is it? A battoir, or
any such. So, I guess my first question is, Is it because
I am looking in the wrong place and it would not be un-
der that [Schedule] 2 ?
And then I just have one other question, and
the other question is with regard to [Schedule] 4, which
says that inspectors may issue emission control order,
and I was wondering about the “ may.” Because if they
. . . it says if they have been called out twice, they may
do it. I was wondering why are we giv ing that discretion
and who decides that discretion? Is it under some [reg-
ulations] that will be forthcoming? Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tannock. Senator Cunningham, you also have a ques-
tion. Perhaps, while the Senator is obtaining her re-
sponse—

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I think this is a great step forward. You know,
obviously we hear many Bermudians having issues closer around Pembroke. I will say in Warwick West,
constituency 28, we have [Spicelands Riding Centre],
we have WindReach, and we have, well, the boundary of Well Bottom, so I know many residents have chal-
lenges . And I think, you know, we are obviously going
in the right direction with the thresholds for particulates.
I think I have two or three . . . we will work out
how many we get when I get there. S o, one of them is
about the DENR and whether they have the current
staffing. You mentioned that the odour operators had
gone overseas for training, but I am wondering if they
have the staff, the technical expertise, and then the monitoring resources required to actually enforce these new standards, and what additional resourcing, I
guess, if they do not have it, would be required.
And then secondly, on the odour threshold,
which is obviously quite a new thing, you mentioned the 5:1 dilution [ratio] and two or more odorous events
within a 12- month period. That is a very long time, so,
you know, if a neighbourhood or community is experi-encing far more frequent odour releases , or whatever
you want to call them, is there an escalation path for an
operator that is repeatedly breaching that standard?
Thank you.

The President: Thank you.
Vice President John Wight , you have the floor.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
So, following on Senator Tannock 's question,
on page 17 of the [Regulations] , there is reference to
the D/T [Dilution to Threshold] method can be used to
determine whether odour is considered a nuisance odour from controlled plants such as . . . and there is a
list of six or seven . So, when it says “ such as, ” I guess
following on Senator Tannock 's question , it could be
any odour. These are just examples of them, I am as-
suming, because there are some nuisance odours in
Bermuda that are other than under one of these six or
seven categories . So, I just want to get clarification on
that.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Vice President , John
Wight .
[Pause]

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President
and colleagues .
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 577

Bermuda Senate I will now endeavour to respond to all of the
questions that were raised, starting with Senator Tan-
nock 's. Around farms specifically, the regulations unfor-
tunately only apply to controlled plants as defined un-
der the Clean Air Act. Facilities for the storage and/ or
treatment of manure are now considered to be con-
trolled plants and can be policed with regard to the pro-
posed odour regulations, although I think outside of that
Granny's home farm or garden is not within scope.
And around inspectors may be able to issue or-
ders, as opposed to must or shall, I think it is to provide
the ability of the technical officers to apply discretion,
looking at the context of that particular incident, you
know, depending on the details of the particular emis-
sion. Was it accidental or is it just intentionally looking to cut costs and how repetitious i s it?
And I think touching on Senator Cunningham's
comment around the threshold, it is two or more in the
year, so the second time it happens within the same year, then you are now incurring, right? So, I think that
at least a second chance seems fair . In my mind, you
are on the first . . . coming back to that point around, is
it accidental or not? And also noting that D ENR is ad-
vised to embrace natural justice in these matters
around whether they should issue a fine. As I high-
lighted in the brief, the intention is not to be punitive,
but to set the standards to encourage companies to
meet the guidelines.
And also, Senator Cunningham's question
around staffing and equipment. DENR assures me they have significant expertise in this area, and they are cur-
rently working with management consulting services to
assess our role with regard to more resourcing. Please
feel free to reach out if you have additional questions
around details of the staffing or equipment. I think we
highlighted the seven indicative monitoring stations and that there is the intention to expand that.
And also , a question around the path for esca-
lation. The public is encouraged to contact pollution
control at gov.bm for any complaints. DENR requires
more than two nuisance odour occurrences in a 12-month period, which I talked about just recently. And
DENR will always investigate each incident to deter-
mine the cause.
Sorry, Madam President, if Senator Wight
could restate his question, please.
The President: Senator Wight.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
So, on page 17, [Schedule 4, paragraph] 2,
there is a list of controlled plants that are categorised
as a nuisance odour, being aerated sewage treatment
plants, spray paint facilities, fuel storage facilities, elec-
trical generators, incinerators, and waste management
sites. So , I guess my question is, is it limited to those?
Why wouldn't a farm . . . I mean, there are some pretty
unpleasant odours that come from farms . But why
would a farm not be included as part of [ these regulations] ? Because I understand that it is not based
on a response we just had.

The President: Mm-hmm.

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President.
And as I look to confirm if the list is exhaustive
or prescriptive around just those specific plan ts, some
added context here, DENR currently licens es approxi-
mately 650 controlled plants in Bermuda, and they meet the definition that list provided. And this now in-cludes the facilities for the treatment and storage of ma-
nure. I am sure all of us are familiar with the topical na-
ture of that over the last several years as that facility
changed its approach to waste management for the
livestock.
Why farms specifically? I will need to get back
to you [with] that response. Personally, I think, given
the kind of challenges we are facing economically , and
with regard to food security, we want to ensure that we
are encouraging that industry to grow.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Fubler .
Senator Tannock , did you have . . . Sorry, you
raised your hand. I just wanted to know if you—

Sen. Tawana Tannock: Yes, I actually did, but Senator
Wight covered it. I just wanted more clarity around the
control plant and the farm issue. I guess part of it was somewhat answered, but I cannot speak for Senator
Wight 's query.
If I heard Senator Fubler [correctly] , some of
the farm, I guess, activity that comprises waste man-agement is one of the listed control plants that is now
under supervision. Actually, so when we say “ waste
management site, ” are we talking about the waste man-
agement part of that farm that is under controlled su-
pervision?

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Apologies, Madam President.
I was not specific enough. The waste manage-
ment is specifically referring to the treatment and stor-
age of manure at the farm.
And just for some additional context, people
who are dealing with the challenges of residing near a
farm, in many instances the farm predates them living
there. And as such, he needed to consider those things
when deciding to reside next to what is inarguably an
essential service on the I sland.
Thank you, Madam President.

[Pause]

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President.
[Are there] a ny supplementar ies to the ques-
tions posed? Hopefully, I have responded to all that
were raised, I believe.

578 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Senator Tannock has raised her hand,
and she has a comment or an additional question.

Sen. Tawana Tannock: Just to clarify, so you are stat-
ing that if somebody moves into an area that has a
known farm or has BELCO or has a known place that
emits emissions, that they should factor that into the
decision when they are trying to find a place for their
family to live?

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Madam President, yes. From
personal context, I live not far from WindR each. And as
a result, I do at times have to deal with the pet, the an-
imal dander. I am rather allergic ; but I factored that into
my decision as to whether that area was suitable to my family's needs.

The President: Senator Tannock .

Sen. Tawana Tannock: I will just note that it is a privi-
lege to be able to have that discretion that is not af-
forded to a lot of our families.

The President: Senator Fubler, if you have answered
all of the questions and the queries, then it is left to you
to move your [draft Regulations] .

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President .
And Senator Tannock is noted. I recognise that
I, too, live with several privileges, and unfortunately, it is the reality of living on 24 square miles. I think we can all agree we need the farms, and as such, there is some
compromise required there.
I would just like to again highlight that we have
enhanced the regulations to ensure that the treatment
and storage of a manure facility is now within scope of
the regulations.
With that, Madam President, I move that the
said draft R egulations be approved and that the follow-
ing message be sent to His Excellency, the Governor :
“May it please your Excellency, the Senate,
having had under consideration the draft Regulations entitled the Clean Air Amendment Regulations 2025
proposed to be made by the Minister responsible for the Environment, in exercise of the power conferred by
section 11 of the Clean Air Act 1991, has the honour to
inform Your Excellency that the Senate has approved
the said draft Regulations.”
The President: Senators, is there any objection to the
message being sent?
No objection. The message will be sent .
[Motion carried: The Clean Air Amendment Regulations
2025 w ere approved.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Mischa Fubler , for
presenting [the draft Regulations] , and all Senators in
support. Senators, that ends the Orders of the Day for
us this morning. We will move on.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
The President: Would any S enator care to speak?
Senator . . . Vice President John Wight , you
have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to send condolences to the family
of Sonia Grant. Many of us have known Sonia for many
years. She was on the BFN [Bermuda Financial Net-
work] board for several years back in the 19 90s. I got
to know her fairly well, and just like her sister, Michelle
Simmons, they were two very kind souls, extremely well
qualified in what they did, very committed to Bermuda,
so a life well lived. But I just want to provide condo-
lences to the family.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Cunningham, you have the floor.

Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I want to start by offering condolences on the
passing of Dr. Eugene Harvey. He was the father of one
of our One Bermuda Alliance colleagues, Elizabeth
Deakin, and the grandfather of Elizabeth's daughter, Hannah. He served Bermuda for decades as a family
doctor, but he also contributed generously to our com-munity through KBB [Keep Bermuda Beautiful] and the
[Bermuda] National Trust, so I just wanted to pass on
condolences.
And then turning on to celebrations, I want to
congratulate the One Bermuda Alliance Warwick team, specifically MP Douglas DeCouto and my colleagues
behind me, Tari k Smith and Dion Smith. We hosted a
Seniors' Tea on Saturday , and it was delightful . I have
to say , I think all the seniors enjoyed it. We had a
presentation by Neville Grant, who is the CEO of Ber-
muda Bankers Association, who provided quite a lively presentation, quite frankly, giving practical tips on
banking fraud and how to avoid scams. And t hen we
had entertainment by Joy T. Barnum, who was remark-
able. I think all of the seniors that attended enjoyed the
afternoon.
I would also (it came out yesterday ) like to con-
gratulate Noah D a Silva, who has been selected as
Bermuda's 2026 Rhodes Scholar. He is off to Oxford to
study paleobiology . But I think it shows the success that
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 579

Bermuda Senate our young Bermudian students are having on a global
stage, so congratulations to him.
And finally, and this will be my last ever (well,
possibly ) comment on the Gombey Warriors and their
World Cup campaign for 2026. I flew back with them
last Wednesday from Miami, and they were still spir-
ited. I think they kept it up till the end. It is a shame that
the two goals were scored overseas, not in Bermuda.
But I just want to say that we are proud of them. I think
they have been inspirational to our younger generation,
so hopefully the younger generation can now kind of
carry some of that Gombey spirit forward, and hopefully
we move onwards and upwards for World Cup 2030.
Thank you very much.

The President: Thank you, Senator Cunningham.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Yes, yes. Minister Caesar , you have the floor.
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Yes, thank you,
Madam President.
I would like to give my congratulations to the
Bermuda Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Soror-
ity Inc ., who held their 26th annual Children's Reading
Festival this past Saturday. As per the norm, it has be-
come a staple on the event calendar for young people,
in which thousands of young readers between the age
. . . from birth to . . . I want to say up to middle school
age, 14, 15, were able to receive a free book . The day
is always well attended by families and friends. There
was a technical tent. It was an inclusive event as well, so those students who had disabilities were able to en-
joy. They even had a little petting area in which some
puppies were quite popular . But again, congratulating
them, and I must state my interest, as I am a member
of that sorority, and the Ministry of Education did help to support the event . But an excellent event yet again
and looking forward to doing it into the future.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Caesar .
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Yes, Senator Fubler , you have the floor.

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to first associate myself with Minis-
ter Caesar 's congratulations to Delta for their R eadings
Festival. It was thoroughly enjoyed by my children. I
have a seven- and four -year-old, and so while they both
cannot read yet, they both do thoroughly enjoy books,
and their reports from the day were a glowing review .
So, kudos to them for another successful event.
I would also like to send congratulations to the
Whitney [Institute] Middle School debate team for their
second- place finish in recent competition. As well as to
associate myself with my colleagues' comments for ku-dos to the Bermuda Men's National Football Team on
their draw with Trinidad. As I stated in our previous ses-
sion, I am not one to prejudge, and as such, I was rewarded with being pleasantly surprised by not one
but two goals during the competition and getting some
points on the tournament chart th ere. Congratulations
to you again, and all the best for the next round.
I would also like to pre- emptively send congrat-
ulations to our women's national team who are set to
play Cayman tomorrow. Make sure you catch that
online to show your support to the women's football
team. Hopefully, we can rally behind them in the same
way that we did the men's football team.
Madam President, turning now to condolences,
I wanted to send out to the family of Gary Williams, who
is notable in both the local rugby and table tennis
scene. I know that there was a piece written about him in The Royal Gazette recently, and as someone who is
a fan of pin g-pong, I thought I would make sure to men-
tion him here in the Senate. Notably, he represented
Bermuda in the World Championships in 1985, just
prior to my birth, actually in Sweden. So, long- serving,
and thank you for his contributions t o local sport.
And also, two condolences to the family of Ms.
Astwood, Cleta Glenora Astwood. Her granddaughter
is a former colleague of mine, Kyra Hodsoll , and so I
wanted to make sure that we captured that in the con-dolences today.
And also, while doing my review of the obituar-
ies, I noticed there was a commemoration for Deborah Marie Brangman, who is a lifelong family friend of mine.
I am quite close with her daughter, Shawnette, and so
I wanted to make sure that on the 20th anniversary of
her passing, that it got captured in the minutes. Inter-
esting, that was a year for loss. My father actually passed away that same year, 20 years ago. And so, on that note, thank you. I will yield my time.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Fubler.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Presi-
dent.
Madam President, I would like to also give the
condolences for Ms. Son ia Grant. She was an amazing
woman. Condolences to her family and the Loyal Hill
family as well.
Madam President, I also would like to thank the
Institute of Bermuda Architects for hosting their 7th
Cardboard Boat [Challenge] . It was well attended. We
had the Minister of Education there. Oh, she was cheer-
ing and screaming for the children as they made their
way to the finish line. A few of them sunk —

[Laughter]
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: —but it was an amazing
event. We had Warwick Academy, Saltus , Somers field
[Academy] , The Berkeley Institute, and CedarBridge
Academy. And I must say, I am the Chairman of
580 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate CedarBridge Academy, and we took first place. I think
that is what made me sick, because I jumped in the wa-
ter with the students.

[Laughter]

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: But it was an amazing event.
And honestly, to see the children putting in the hard
work to get these cardboards to float and go across the
pool was an amazing sight.
I also want to say that on Saturday, Cedar-
Bridge is hosting their Mr. and Mrs. CedarBridge. I en-
courage everybody to attend. I also want to say that this
is the ninth year of the Foster Parent s Association (I am
actually the president ) that we are doing an A ngel Tree
[event] for children in foster care, Big Brothers and Big
Sisters, some children in the Mirrors Programme, the
children in the homes, and also the children that are at
Teen Haven.
I just want to encourage everybody, if you have
a few dollars, to make Christmas a little brighter for our
children in need. [There] is nothing like opening up a
gift on Christmas .
I just want to thank the thousands of people
over the last nine years who have actually been to
Rosa’s [Cantina] and Chopsticks, picked out an angel,
and brought back a gift for these students every year.
We have 300- plus angels that we have to . . . this year
it is over 400. [There are] about 40 left . I encourage
everybody to come and pick an angel. We do it different
from most organisations. Our angel actually represents a specific child with a specific gift that they want. You
do not have to get that gif t, but it is an idea of what they
like. So, you do not just take all these extra gifts. [There]
is a rhyme and a reason why we do it. So that specific
child, there is a code on the back, and that’s the gift.
So, thank you everybody for the support. And
if any of my Senate colleagues want to pick up an an-gel, I would encourage you to, you know, bless a child
for Christmas.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Yes, Senator Tari k Dunbar Smith, you have the
floor.

Sen. Tarik Smith: Good day, Madam President, Sen-
ate colleagues, and listening audience.
I just want to piggyback on Senator Fubler's
support of the female national team; It is important
sometimes. Men's football, being a football coach, gets
all the highlights. These young ladies have worked hard
in their training camp. So, please support, tune in to the
game and support them like we did our men's team.
They do need the encouragement and support as well.
Also, just a couple quick condolences to the
family of Sinclair Dawson Robinson, a constituent of
[constituency] 24, also a gentleman that I would often speak to when in the taxi line many years ago. A nd to
a good friend, Shanai Swan, who passed away re-
cently. My condolences to her daughter, Maya , and her
entire family.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Tari k Dunbar
Smith.
Would any other Senator care to speak? Hear-
ing none, I would just like to associate myself with the
condolences expressed for Ms. Sonia Grant and Dr.
Eugene Harvey . And I would also like to express con-
dolences to the family of my cousin, 91- year-old Ser-
geant Major Chauncey Durham, to his daughter, Karen, and son, Chauncey Phil lip, [Jr.], and my entire Durham
family. It was a most moving, home- going service for
Chauncey at the Heritage Worship Centre last Friday morning. So, condolences to that family.
And with that, then, we will move on to the next
item.
Minister Caesar , Government Leader in the
Senate today, you have the floor.

ADJOURNMENT
Sen. the Hon. Crystal Caesar: Yes. Thank you,
Madam President.
Madam President, I move that the Senate do
adjourn to Wednesday, December 10.

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
the motion to adjourn?
Yes. [The] f irst hand I have seen is Senator
Dion Smith. You have the floor.

MODULAR HOUSING INITIATIVE

Sen. Dion Smith: Thank you, Madam President.
I wanted to just bring a few things to the atten-
tion of our public and our people, as I often am on the
doorsteps with our constituents. And some of the re-
cent topics that they have been concerned about is
housing, and the modular housing in particular.
In my opinion, the modular housing is definitely
a good option, provided that a strategic plan is in place
to manage temporary uses of these homes. And I often
wonder in our conversations, when I'm speaking with
some of them, are these units particularly s uited for in-
dividuals, or should it be for individuals who are more
or less transitioning from dire circumstances, such as
living in halfway houses as you kind of transition from
either emergency housing, from hospitals. And I think
proper planning needs to be supported.
It is essential to ensure that units are effective
for transitioning , [for] housing people, rather than tran-
sitioning them into permanent solutions. And I say this
because recently I was reading an article in October of
2022 by the Honourable Minister David Burch . And this
is just . . . if you can allow me for a few seconds.
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 581

Bermuda Senate He said , 1“I rise to bring extremely positive
news in relation to an election pledge” (from his ) “Gov-
ernment in its 2020 Election Manifesto —to improve the
quality of life of all Bermudians. ”
He also stated everyone is “aware that the
housing prices, mortgage interest rates and rental
prices have been on a continuous rise worldwide. ”
He a lso said, “In Bermuda, the monthly rental
rates range ranges as follows :
“● for a studio apartment, $1,100 to $1,800
per month;
“● for a one- bedroom apartment, $1,500 to
$2,000 per month;
“● for a two- bedroom apartment, $2,200 to
$3,000 per month; and
“● for a three- bedroom apartment, $3,200 to
$5,000 per month. ”
And he stated that, “there is no denying that our
Island has an extremely high cost of living, routinely in
the top five of the world. ” And that was in 2022. We are
now the highest in 2025.
He then said, “D o we expect families to pay
these exorbitant rates in comparison to their monthly
income just to have a roof over their head, w hile in ad-
dition paying high utility bills (energy, Internet, and
phone) , high fuel cost and paying the ever-increasing
grocery costs to simply survive in a modern world?” He
said, “The simple answer is no. ” That his “administra-
tion does not expect hard- working families to live in this
manner without help from their G overnment. ”
And I say, when our citizens fall on hard times,
it is often both embarrassing and disheartening, affect-
ing their minds [and] their families. Yet the current ad-
ministration seems to suggest to our citizens . . . are
they good enough to stay at the Bermudiana where
there [are] options and opportunity for homes tempo-
rarily? So , I say, why not provide housing at Bermu-
diana until permanent accommodations are secured? I
make this statement to highlight the urgent need for dig-
nity, respect, and proper support for those who are tem-
porarily vulnerable at this time.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Dion Smith.
Senator Mischa Fubler , you did indicate you
want to speak on the motion to adjourn. You have the
floor.

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Yes, thank you, Madam Presi-
dent.
I was interested in sharing some of this at our
previous session, but I decided to defer to our most re-
cently joined colleagues to the Senate, given they gave
their maiden speeches. And I just wanted to highlight,
you know, it can be daunting as a relatively new Sena-
tor to select the topical issue to highlight during your 20
minutes of motion to adjourn.

1 Official Hansard Report , 7 October 2022, page 1795 And there are so many things going on on the
Island, things that have competing priorities in people's
minds. What is the most important thing to highlight? I
think most recently we have had (in another place) dis-
cussions about road safety and health care. And again,
here in the Senate, of frustrations and lamenting of
complainers, to kind of paraphrase one of my col-
leagues.
And so , on my one- year anniversary of serving
as a S enator . . . actually, one year tomorrow will have
been one year here in the Senate. It has been an hon-
our and privilege to serve the people of Bermuda in this
capacity.
In preparation, I started to do my research as I
am keen to, and I came across an article in the daily
highlighting a third shooting suspect in the murder of
Janae Mino rs, a suspect by the name, apologies, S onje
Wales -Smith. And I was curious, I wanted to get to
know more about who this 19- year-old person was who
was willing to arguably throw their life away.

[Inaudible interjection]

Sen. Mischa Fubler: I cannot speak on cases. Sorry.
Apologies. Not on the case specifically. Apologies,
Madam President , if I am stepping outside the bounds
of what is allowed for a motion to adjourn. I can yield
my time.

The President: Yes, that is true. You do not speak on
the cases that are in the press at the moment.

ENHANCING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

Sen. Mischa Fubler: Understood. And so , taking a
step back, I just wanted to highlight the need for eco-nomic opportunity. I did some searching and I found on LinkedIn a profile of the same name. I do not know if it
is the same person, but it said unemployed at unem-
ployed. And that is the point really that I wanted to talk
around, enhancing economic opportunity. My col-league recently just touched on that as well, people fall-
ing on hard times.
We can see that the traditional markers of eco-
nomic success are trending in the right direction. You travel through town, you see there are large buildings
being constructed. GDP [g ross domestic product] con-
tinues to rise. Job numbers are growing. There is some
debate over the nature of who is getting those jobs. I
would be interested in delving a bit deeper into the kind of underlying data set there.
I think my colleagues across the aisle like to
highlight that there were only a few new jobs added to Bermudians. But I want people to be cognisant of the
fact that the majority of the existing workforce is Ber-
mudian. And we have somewhere close to one in four,
moving towards one in three, people being senior
582 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate citizens. And so naturally, they would experience
higher rates of attrition in the workforce, i.e. , people
who are reaching the age of retirement or looking to
transition into new careers. And as such, they are not
being replaced at the same rate that they already exist in the workforce. Right?
Arguably, t hey from the generation of the baby
boomers, a time when we saw significant increase in the birth rate, something that is tapering off now as so-
ciety changes. You do not have families of five, six, and
10 anymore. My mother is one of 13, and I am one of
one for her, arguably. I have a sister as well. And I am
not an unusual case. I think it is probably accurate to
say that these days it is more unusual to see three, four or more.
And so , I wanted to take a moment to kind of
highlight some spaces where we are implementing in-cremental improvement. I think kind of in the corporate
space, that is kind of the mind- set. You will not be able
to revolutionise the way you do business. That is argu-ably impossible, given the fact that you are not starting
from scratch, and you cannot pause existing business
to implement new process that often needs to be de-
veloped and designed in parallel. And as such, the in-
cremental improvement in providing economic oppor-
tunity is something that the Government and society at
large need to continue to focus on. It would help to ad-
dress [the] issue raised by my colleague as well.
And so , on that note, kudos to the Minister of
Economy and Labour , and that M inistry , as well as
BEDC [Bermuda Economic Development Corporation],
for their general effort in that space. You do not need
to look far into the history of The Royal Gazette to see
ongoing events, including things like the small business
opportunity loans that are available through BEDC, and
kind of more specifically, instances like the W ave of Op-
portunity Pitch C ompetition that recently happened. I
neglected to mention that durin g my congratulations .
But to Global Atlantic, one of the partners in that space,
providing an opportunity to enhance entrepreneurship.
And certainly , in jurisdictions where those
types of economic indicators are measured, they show
that that is one of the more effective ways to drive eco-
nomic activity . Right? The small business, those busi-
nesses are more likely to keep the money circulating within the economy as they are transacting with locals
and other businesses. And so , something that other
large organisations should look to provide partnership
in, right? There are many instances of charitable activ-
ity. Those are often highlighted in t he media, but I think
it is also important to ensure that it is empowering and
not just charity, not just providing financial assistance,
although that is something that is welcomed, especially
when it is targeted in ways like the example I just gave
wherein we are facilitating entrepreneurs growing their businesses or starting new ones.
And also, I wanted to take a pause, this might
be offbeat, to provide kudos to my colleague, Senator
Cunningham, who left the private sector to join B FIS, [Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies ] which is a
third sector organisation working to enhance economic
opportunity for Bermudians. She is not alone in that
case. I do not think we have to look far across the leg-
islature and Bermuda at large. There are many of us
who work both in the private sector and in the third sec-
tor
And I encourage more of you, if you are listen-
ing or if you are at the media writing an article about
what transpired today, that there is encouragement to
those of you at the executive level with significant ex-
perience to join us in providing mentorship and oppor-
tunity for young Bermudians to further engage in the
economic opportunity that is there. Billions of dollars
flow through our country, and it is important that an eq-uitable share of that is distributed to those of us who
have made Bermuda what it i s.
And so, there are opportunities that could be
non-traditional in supporting the kind of growth outside
of what government and the third sector and volunteer-
ing in general can provide. And an interesting example
of that was raised by Ms. Sn aith-Simmons. Again,
thank you. Unending thanks to Ms. [Snaith -]Simmons
for her op- eds that she writes highlighting historical oc-
currences in Bermuda. It is very important for continu-
ing on kind of the public knowledge of the culture, the
foundations. And so, she wrote recently about the Co-lonial Opera House, which was completed in 1903. And
contrary to the name, it also played movies . But it also
hosted plays and other performances, including groups like the Little Theatre Group, local creatives who,
through their opportunity presented by the Colonial
Opera House, were able to support third sector organi-sations like T he Sunshine League, something she high-
lighted in the story.
And then, to my point around alternative oppor-
tunities for lending your assistance where possible, she
highlighted my great -great -grandfather, Clarence Or-
ester Darrell, who, if I may, Madam President , I will
quote from the article. “ In 1903, the members of the
Loyal Flower of the Day Lodge 6347 attempted to pur-chase two vacant lots on Victoria Street owned by Wil-
liam Henry and Edgar Campbell Wilkerson .” (Who de-
clined. ) “There was resistance in selling to this group ,
and so Clarence Or ester Darrell, a prominent B lack
businessman, purchased it ” (on their behalf ) “and re-
sold it ” (to them) “at no additional cost ” (or sold it ) “to
the trustees of Loyal Flower of the Day Lodge, whose members were committed to building a theatre for cul-
tural events and” (showing) “movies. ” And this, that
practi ce there, being able, he had capacity to help bro-
ker the deal, in short.
And so, those of you with that kind of . . . even
if it is not putting your own money on the line, having
the knowledge and understanding of what is required
to get a business like that going, you should give of your
time and talent to do so. And so, I think, as I move to-
wards closing, is that too often we hide behind what is,
quoting my colleague again from his maiden speech, it
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 583

Bermuda Senate is something that resonated with me, too often we hide
behind what has been done before, even when it has
not worked. True service is not about self -preservation,
it is about public transformation. Public transformation
was a great point I wanted to highlight, kudos to you,
Senator Smith. Because this is an example here pro-
vided by Clarence Or ester Darrell, and also provides
me an opportunity to segue into one of the ministries within my remit, which is the Ministry for the Cabinet
Office and Digital Innov ation.
And this appeal is actually more to the civil ser-
vice, they may or may not be aware of the Digital Trans-
formation Team, who we have highlighted recently in
here. Initiatives they have led like the 100- Day Acceler-
ator, but also that their remit is to help you be more ef-
fective and efficient in the work you do every day. I'm
sure every department can easily highlight an example of a process or procedure that involves some form of
drudgery that automati sation would help to, you know,
alleviate some of that pain around that process, or en-
hance the accuracy of it, or increase the speed at which you are able to process it. We can look at examples in
the Department of Planning where they are leveraging
AI to chip away at the backlog of permits, and to en-hance that process, just as one other example.
And so, again, please do, if you have ideas —I
often get stopped, as I walk through the city , from public
servants —please do reach out . Share your ideas with
me. I am always open to advocating for enhancements
in process and procedure, especially when they lever-age technology, because as I have stated many times,
that is my day -to-day in my private work as well.
And so, on that note, Madam President, thank
you. I yield my time.

The President: Thank you, Senator Mischa Fubler.
Vice President , John Wight , you have the floor.

CONCERNS REGARDING THE BERMUDA
HOSPITALS BOARD ANNUAL REPORT
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
I will be 30 seconds, maybe 45.
[Laughter]

Sen. John Wight: This morning, one of the announce-
ments provided to the Senate was the 2021 Bermuda
Hospitals Board Annual Report. And as a staunch sup-
porter of good corporate governance, when I reviewed
the annual report in detail, which I do, I noticed that it
was signed off by the Auditor General on August 2,
2023. So, it has taken over two years for the annual
report to be presented. And, you know, the hospital, our only hospital, both the operations and the financing is
one of great interest and concern to our communit y.
So, you know, I have been saying this for as
long as I have been in the Senate. I would encourage
government to provide timely financial statements to the Senate and to the community as a measure of best
practi ce and good corporate governance.
So, thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator John Wight .
Would any other Senator care to speak?
I did see somebody else's hand. Sorry, Senator
Cunningham, yes? I thought I saw someone.

ENHANCING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
Sen. Victoria Cunningham: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I was not going to say anything, but after Sen-
ator Fubler's comment, I thought I would elaborate be-
cause that is a passionate place of mine. So, yes, I did
spend 22 years in international business, and my pas-sion, though, has always been basically finding oppor-
tunity for those who need it most. And so, it is a privi-
lege and an honour to serve as the Executive Director of an organisation that helps fund the education and
give additional support to students trying to get into in-
ternational business. But to me, it is not just about in-
ternational business. It is, you know, all different indus-
tries. I mean, I helped a mentee sibling who wanted to
get into carpentry.
So, I think last week, I was actually invited, so
I took my organisation global. I went down to Puerto Rico and they were wanting me to talk at their financial
services forum about how to attract and retain talent
into their financial services sector. But it became appar-
ent that, you know, Bermuda has got regulations and laws in place that protect our Bermudians, which they did not have in Puerto Rico. And we have also got the
well-regarded regulatory and legislative framework.
And I just think, for our students, you know, the world is their oyster, but everything is here at home.
So, I think my call to action is for those in the
listening audience , you know, it is not difficult to give
time to be a mentor or to offer an internship or an ap-
prenticeship to someone, and these things can actually
change lives. And, you know, my chair and I were talk-
ing about how we are changemakers. I do not do it for
the way it makes me feel . But it does make you feel a
great sense of accomplishment when you see a stu-dent who then goes to a university or goes through a
trade or goes, you know, whatever path they take, and
then comes out successful and then wants to give back
themselves.
So, you know, I just . . . I think if Bermud a . . .
we have always looked out for each other, but, you
know, be more strategic in how you do it and offer that
mentorship to a young person. Or, you know, my good-
ness, I meet hundreds of career shifters every week.
You know, everyone wants that kind of . . . it is not re-
ally a handout, but, you know, that support. So, just give
it where you can. And thank you very much.

The President: Thank you, Senator Cunningham.
584 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Senator Lauren Bell, I saw your hand. You
have the floor.

MODULAR HOUSING INITIATIVE

Sen. Lauren Bell: Thank you, Madam President.
I could not let today's session close without
providing my Senate colleague, Senator D ion Smith,
with some reassurances regarding his concerns
around affordable housing. He did raise the issue about
the modular housing and emergency housing that we are looking to bring to the Island in the beginning of the
new year.
And we want to emphasise that the modular
housings are going to provide immediate relief to fami-
lies who are in the most critical need. And it is going to
serve as a live pilot to assess the modular construction
of a long- term housing solution. Now, the modular initi-
ative forms part of our emergency housing plan for
2025 to 2027, which is currently being developed. And
this plan is going to be designed to deliver rapid, cost -
effective, high -quality accommodations on available
government lands for those who are in the most critical
needs. I also want to highlight the work that is currently
done regarding the affordable residential housing. So,
government is delivering tangible results across the I s-
land.
Construction is advancing in key sites. We
have approximately 60 new affordable homes that are
estimated to be online by mid- 2026. And they include
areas such as the Harmony Terrace in Paget , the Chel-
sea Apartments in St. George's, the Middle Town [in]
Pembroke renovations at the Browne House, and Bat-
tery Road Phase 3 in St. David's. We also have work
that is going to be projected for the future. So, we have
already identified a number of key priority sites for the next phase of the residential building pr ogramme,
which will include Victoria Row, Sand ys; Albert Row,
Sand ys; Dr. Cann Park Phase 2, the 13 Ewing Street
in the City of Hamilton, as well as the Harbor View Vil-
lage in St. David's. Now, collectively, these sites are projected to deliver approximately 225 new affordable
units, which will primarily be one- and two- bedroom
homes.
And I do recognise that my colleague raised a
concern that he has about wanting to be ensured that
there is a strategy in place. So, we currently have the
residential building programme for 2025/ 26, and we are
pursuing a comprehensive coordinating approach to
housing, one that combines both new construction, ren-
ovation of existing units, modular housing solutions,
and partnership with the private sector. Now, this plan
is guided by one simple yet urgent goal, and that is to
increase the supply of affordabl e homes across the Is-
land while modernising and diversifying how we deliver them.
In addition, we are currently working on an af-
fordable housing strategy for 2025- 2035, which is a 10-
year plan, to close Bermuda's housing gap and build a fair, sustainable housing system for the future. This
strategy defines affordable housing as accommodation
that costs no more than 30 per cent of a household's
income [and] is in line with international best practi ce.
The strategy will outline the policies and financial tools and partnerships needed to expand supply, upgrade
existing units, and ensure that every Bermudian has
access to safe, secure, and affordable homes.
Now, this information has been in the public do-
main for a while, and I would encourage my Senate col-
league to explore this information that is already in the public domain, and if he would like to have a conversa-
tion with myself to go over our plan for aff ordable hous-
ing, I welcome him to reach out to me directly.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Lauren Bell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Tannock , you have the floor.

CONCERNS REGARDING THE BERMUDA
HOSPITALS BOARD ANNUAL REPORT

Sen. Tawana Tannock: Yes, thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
First, I would like to echo Senator Fubler’s
comments on Ms. CeCe [Cecille] Snaith -Simmons. I
can attest that she is a treasure and a gem of Bermu-
dian history, and a quick anecdote. Christmas many,
many years ago, maybe over 10 years ago, I was trying
to make cassava pie using the recipe in her cookbook,
and my pie was not raising. Nothing was happening. It
was Christmas Day, and I called her house. Her hus-
band answered and I said, Let me speak to her . And on
Christmas Day, she sat down and walked me through
what I may or may not have done correctly and then
called me later Christmas evening to see how the pie
turned out. So, I can attest to the fact that she is living,
breathing history. So, I concur that she deserves a lot of recognition for keeping the spirit of love alive.
But I also just would like to comment [on]
something. I am going to read something really quickly,
and this is from The Royal Gazette as of last year [sic].
“Mr. Wight told the Senate on July 5: ‘Today,
Senate received the BHB's financial statements for the
year ended March 31, 2020. The Auditor -General,
Heather Thomas, signed her audit report in March
2022. Thus the annual report was ready for the House
and Senate to review a year ago and thus delayed one year. ’”
Mr. Wight , Senator Wight , then went on to
speak about further delays . And he also went on to
highlight, as he did today, and The Royal Gazette says,
“John Wight called [last month for] better governance,
citing annual reports by the Bermuda Hospital s Board
being presented to the House of Assembly and Senate
up to two years late.” A nd here we are. We sit today in
2025 with a 2021 report. I find it disheartening that
Official Hansard Report 26 November 2025 585

Bermuda Senate Senator Wight 's comments were not taken to heart, and
there does not seem to have been a change.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tannock.
Would any other S enator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Hearing none, then, Senators, thank you for
your work this morning, and Senate stands adjourned
until December the 10th.
Thank you.

[At 12:19 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 10 December 2025. ]

586 26 November 2025 Official Hansard Report

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