Speeches by E. Grant Gibbons

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

41 words

But there are a couple of areas that really I think stood out. One of those rec-ommendations certainly rang true with me. I actually taught, in a former life, for a number of years, mostly at a tertiary level. [Inaudible interjections]

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

640 words

That is tertiary; I [did] a little bit of secondary school teaching as well but not for very long. One of the things that I think was very key for Professor Hopkins and those that helped write the report was the recommendation to dramatically i ncrease the quality of teaching. The other was to i mprove the leadership of principals …

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

4,614 words

Thank you. Bermuda Public School System. “can have a sustained and transformative impact on the academic achievement of young people. Bermuda must focus on ensuring educators who are recruited from high quality training programs, are mentored and supported by master teachers to improve their practice in the classroom.” I think that says it very well. One of the things that …

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

199 words

Thank you, Madam Chairman. I am obliged to my honourable colleague, Pat Gordon- Pamplin, for asking the question, but the Mi nister still has not answered the question as to how many low performing schools have been identified under the Education Act. She referred to primary. I would be interested to know if there are any middle schools in that …

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

47 words

Yes, if I may, Madam Chairman. How many classroom teachers are current-ly working in the 2017/18 year? So, not paraprofessionals, not principals, how many classroom teac hers? Thank you . Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: We will have to get that information in total count for you.

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

95 words

Madam Chairman, I am not going to let the Honourable Member off the hook quite that easily. The Education Act specifies in any school year . . . sorry, in terms of low performing schools it must be done on an annu al basis. So the question is, have any schools been identified this year as low performing? Clearly, there …

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

3 words

Yes, Madam Chairman

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

137 words

Madam Chairman, the issue is not whether the Government revealed it or not; the issue is whether the department and the Mi nistry did what they are required to do under the Act, which is identify low performing schools. So, the question is, if it was not done, why not? Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Madam Chairman, this is getting …

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

405 words

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my sense is that while the Regulatory Authority may have been charging some of these service fees before to essentially recoup some of their costs, although I am not sure about that, this is sort of a new schedule. I do not think we have seen this one before. And electricity is on here …

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

9 words

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was on my feet.

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

351 words

I am off your port bow here, so . . .yes. Thank you. I thank the Minister. Again, I have a couple of questions on this. As he indicates, the 2018 set of regulations on a fee basis are exactly the same as those that were being charged in 2017. The largest one here is the electricity transmission, distribution, and …

9 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

208 words

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am sure the Minister knows where I am going here. The question again, is . . . usually w hen the Regulatory Authority does up its budget it has an esBermuda House of Assembly timate for what the turnover is going to be that the 1.75 per cent of the licensee’s relevant turnover will yield. …

7 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

143 words

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good morning. Mr. Speaker, on page 3 of the Honourable Member’s Statement on the decriminalisation of cannabis for less than 7 grams, he says, “Mr. Speaker, it is our hope and our belief that taking this important action will help to prevent our young people, in par-ticular our young black men, from being placed on …

7 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

4 words

Yes, supplementary, Mr. Speaker.

7 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

92 words

Mr. Speaker, I guess I would ask the Member why he believes it is his belief that taking this important action will help this if he has not actually had any discussions with the US Cons ulate here. I think we all recognise that, under Federal US Law, marijuana cannabis is still, I think, a [Sche dule] I controlled substance. …

7 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

8 words

I will take a new question, Mr. Speaker.

7 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

4 words

Yes, that is fine.

7 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

45 words

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, along similar lines, but I will put it in a new question. Mr. Speaker, all of us are aware that the US authorities here have not necessarily r elied on a conviction to put somebody on the stop list.

7 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

61 words

And I am wondering whether there has been any discussion as to . . . I mean, the drug is still illegal in Bermuda. And whether there has been any sense that this is actually going to make much of a difference, I think w e all understand, clearly, if you are arrested, it is public, or if you are …

7 Mar 2018 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report

35 words

But I am curious as to whether there has been anything which would suggest that there has been a change in direction with respect to the US Government’s approach with Bermuda em igration. Thank you.