Members
Parliament
Transparency

Walton Brown

664
Speeches
103,662
Words Spoken
37
Sittings Active
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
2 words
Second supplemental?
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
38 words
And why is that, Honourable Mi nister? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I believe that I answered that question in my remarks just now. We are going about it in a way other than through the Price Commission.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
149 words
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good afternoon colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I just have four points that I would like to make about this Tourism Authority Bill. The first has to do with the redundancy which the Government has already spoken to. Mr. Speaker, you will know that last year the One Bermuda Alliance party made a very clear statement that …
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
12 words
— make some amendments. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: —or point of clarification.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
6 words
I fully understand it, Mr. Speaker.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
16 words
I can have my opinion and I also have the right to state facts, Mr. Speaker.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
18 words
And the fact is that 40 positions, approximately, have been made redundant. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Positions, yes.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
15 words
That is my point. And the Minister will accept that. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
38 words
Thank you. And as I say, it is precedent setting. And the Minister will also accept, Mr. S peaker, that that is in House of Assembly direct contradiction to a solemn election promise that was made. [Inaudible interjections]
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
762 words
And the Minister can disagree and so too can the Premier. That is why we are here to have debate, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the second point is that a great deal of thought, a great deal of work has gone into this notion of what the former . . . what the Member from constituency 14, who just sat …
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
46 words
That is why I used the word a pproximately. Mr. Speaker, the legislation that we have b efore us allows for the Board to fund private enterprise. Up to a million dollars can be given to a company without any involvement of the Minister. [Inaudible interjection]
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
469 words
So if you are talking about good governance and transparency, this is in direct contr adiction to that. If I was a cynical person (and I am not normally cynical, but if I was a cynical person), I would say that this is an OBA rendition of Friends and Family, because you can give money to a company up to …
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
58 words
Thank you, Madam Chairman. Just a quick question for the Minister under [clause] 6. Can the Minister tell this House whether or not he intends to issue a directive either to the Board or to the Chief Executive Officer with regard to the establishment of performance measures to assess the effectiveness over successive years of the Tourism Authority?
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
4 words
Good morning, Mr. Speaker.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
4 words
A very cheerful morning.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
22 words
Outside, at least. Inside, perhaps not so cheerful. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin with a quote from Shakespeare, the Bard.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
12 words
And, you know, I am actually going to quote from The Tempest.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
9 words
The Tempest, which is actually, in part, about Bermuda.
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
943 words
Those vexed Bermoothes. But the quote I am going to make from Shakespeare in The Tempest is that, “What’s past is prologue.” “What’s past is prologue.” The past is a dress rehearsal for the present. And, Mr. Speaker, when we look at this particular piece of legislation, this immigration legislation, we know there is connectivity between the past and t …
27 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
116 words
But, clearly, the Minister of F inance is quite happy. He has the prospect that the prices of property will go up. But guess who will not be happy, Mr. Speaker. The people who are working hard, working men and women who want to buy homes. The Government needs to have balance. The Government needs to have balance. There is …