Premier: Surveying The Past, Mapping The Future
This weekend Premier Paula Cox attended the 50/50 Conference in the Cayman Islands where she was the keynote speaker, with her speech titled “Surveying the past, mapping the future.”
The Premier said she was assuming the “role of truth teller to tell the story about one of the most successful jurisdictions in this region.”
“The political backdrop is that the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party has been in power since 1998. That year marked our historic victory as Government, when we won our first general election. This was a game-changer that marked the first change of Government since the establishment of party politics in Bermuda,” said Premier Cox.
“How have we fared? If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Bermuda’s voters clearly liked what we were serving up. Having given us a mandate in 1998, they re-elected a PLP Government in 2003 and again in 2007, when the Party maintained its Parliamentary majority and increased its share of the popular vote to 52.5%.
“The statistics speak for themselves. International business maintained its status as the biggest contributor to our GDP and continued to strengthen sharply following the election of the PLP in 1998. So much for those who had predicted an exodus of business under a PLP Government.”
The Premier went on to cover a variety of issues including Bermuda’s GDP, international business, the recession, tourism, the construction industry, job growth, international relationships and more.
Former Premier Dr Ewart Brown also spoke at the conference, with his paper titled “Is the UK-OT Relationship Based on Mutual Interests? Bermuda and the Uighurs Case Study.” Also in attendance was political commentator and PLP candidate Walton Brown, who presented a paper on “New Millennium Colonialism: How the United Kingdom Sustains the UK-OT Relationship.”
The Premier’s full speech follows below:
Thank you Mrs. Rodriquez and good morning Hon. Ministers, Distinguished Attendees, Conference hosts, ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to start by complimenting the far-sighted organisers of this event. The University College of the Cayman Islands has succeeded in assembling an impressive array of speakers.
They have also structured a highly provocative and visionary conference. Its content, context and timing reflect much careful thought. What a powerful and completely appropriate theme: ‘Surveying the past, mapping the future’.
Given the diverse interests and historical backgrounds represented here today, this theme will stimulate much engagement and dialogue, as we have already seen from some of the earlier speakers.
Talking of history and historical backgrounds, it is most appropriate that the conference organisers are academics and professional educators. Otherwise, left to the politicians to survey the past, we could be in for some revisionist history.
It’s been said that God alone knows the future but only politicians can alter the past.
Today I assume the role of truth teller to tell the story about one of the most successful jurisdictions in this region. I have been asked to describe the Bermuda model and the challenges it faces. Before doing that, let me give you a status update on Bermuda economically, socially, and politically.
Then l will retrace our steps and examine the route we took, the lessons learned and how we will tackle both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Essentially, I will be talking about progress, but I’d like to invite you to adopt a certain perspective on this. I’d like you to view what I’m going to say through the lens of Martin Luther King Jr. who said, and I quote: “All progress is precarious and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.” I also want to reference another quote about progress which I will share with you in a moment.
First let’s set the context. The political backdrop is that the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party has been in power since 1998. That year marked our historic victory as Government, when we won our first general election. This was a game-changer that marked the first change of Government since the establishment of party politics in Bermuda.
Some doubted the ability of our Party given its limited experience in Government. Yet the PLP did not blink in its follow-through and delivery on election promises.
What does that mean? It means that this pivotal change of Government in November 1998 initiated a process that allowed the country to move from being under the control of a ruling business class elite to an administration which was committed to broadening the base of political participation for all Bermudians.
This was a powerful, radical shift. After three decades of leadership by another political party, the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party was elected as the people’s Government. We were excited at the prospect, at what now seemed possible. At what President Obama called not long ago: the audacity of hope.
Progress indeed. However, remember Dr. King’s warning: The solution to one problem brings us face to face with another.
In our case, the challenge was to maintain economic momentum and stability while bringing about the social change we had promised the country. We couldn’t afford to drop the ball. Couldn’t allow our critics an opportunity to say we told you so.
These were lofty, ambitious goals but we believed that building a better Bermuda for Bermudians was not incompatible with maintaining a business friendly environment.
Of course, any change of policy carries an element of risk.
Our focus was to marry economic empowerment with economic development. We knew that there would be no safe options and that our chosen path would indeed involve a precarious progress.
Precarious or not, we were determined to tackle inequities in the area of jobs, property ownership, affordable housing, social assistance, healthcare, education, infrastructure programmes, small business empowerment, Government services and public sector borrowing.
How have we fared? If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Bermuda’s voters clearly liked what we were serving up. Having given us a mandate in 1998, they re-elected a PLP Government in 2003 and again in 2007, when the Party maintained its Parliamentary majority and increased its share of the popular vote to 52.5%.
Encouraged by this strong show of support, the Government followed through on its election promises and in its third term in office delivered free daycare for eligible Bermuda families, free tuition at our Bermuda College, free bus and ferry transport and enhanced health insurance options.
We also launched Economic Empowerment Zones with the aim of stimulating entrepreneurs. More recently, tax roll backs were unveiled to bolster businesses, hotels and restaurants, and legislation was developed to create job maker incentives for good corporate citizens who promote economic advancement for Bermudians.
At the same time, with job creation consistently among our top priorities,
we have continued to actively support our international business sector and our tourism industry, the key drivers of employment in our economy.This dedication to understanding and nurturing the main elements of the economy while at the same time keeping the promises we made to the people of Bermuda,has undoubtedly been critical to the continued success of our jurisdiction.
The statistics speak for themselves. International business maintained its status as the biggest contributor to our GDP and continued to strengthen sharply following the election of the PLP in 1998. So much for those who had predicted an exodus of business under a PLP Government.
In fact, far from triggering an exodus, this sector’s contribution to GDP surpassed the $1 billion mark in 2005 aided by a particularly active natural catastrophe season, which spawned Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and, in turn, directed more business to our thriving risk industry. In that same year, this international sector also became the largest employer on the Island.
The GDP derived from the international businesses nearly tripled for the ten years from 1996 to 2006. For the first time, the IB sector overtook construction as the leading contributor to job growth.
By 2007, international companies were generating approximately 4,700 jobs in Bermuda and had become the major driver of demand, not just for professional services such as accounting, banking and legal support, but for almost all sectors of our economy.
By then, the insurance industry had become the undisputed jewel in Bermuda’s international business crown. Yes, there was growth in the funds sector and in trust business and in other areas, but not growth of the meteoric proportions seen in the risk industry.
Initially, this was due to the rapid influx of captive insurance entities. But in the mid-1980s, the formation of ACE and XL, two of the largest insurance companies established in Bermuda, marked the dawn of a new era and the birth of what would eventually become the largest commercial insurance market of its kind.
Today, Bermuda’s combined risk management, insurance and reinsurance marketplace is huge by any standard. It is no wonder that Bermuda has been dubbed ‘the risk capital of the world’.
With capital and surplus of more than $182 billion and gross premiums of close to $108 billion in 2010, this industry and its widely-acclaimed expertise commands massive respect all over the world.
Let me give you an example. When the European Union decided to draw up a list of non EU jurisdictions that were to be assessed last year for equivalence with Solvency II regulations, Bermuda was one of only three domiciles invited to be in the first wave of assessments. That tells you something about the global standing of the Bermuda market.
I think it would be useful to pause here for a moment to consider the reasons why this commercial insurance business, as distinct from the captive business, came and continues to come to Bermuda. Fiscal advantages clearly played a part. So too did our well respected regulatory environment. Close proximity to the gateway cities of the US east coast has also been a contributing factor.
But the most commonly-stated reason given by many of these companies as to why they chose Bermuda, is speed to market. Why? Because it is mission-critical for any new insurance company to get its underwriters underwriting as soon as possible. For many commercial start ups, timing is everything. Lengthy licensing procedures and unnecessary bureaucracy can be deadly.
However, not as deadly as what has become known as the Great Recession of 2008 to 2009 and the ensuing financial slowdown. Indeed, it is difficult (and I quote) “to survey the past and map the future” without taking into account the more severe recessionary ravages.
It was Rahm Emanuel, the current Mayor of Chicago and former White House Chief of Staff under President Obama, who said that you never want to let a good crisis go to waste.
He believed that a crisis allowed you to do important things that you would otherwise avoid doing. How right he was. While I don’t know many people who actually enjoyed the painful experience of enduring the Recession, it certainly gave everyone an opportunity to review their chosen path.
Economies are usually most robust when fully diversified. Ideally, for optimum results, this should involve reliance on non-correlated contributions to GDP. However, the recession soon put paid to nice notions of non-correlation. The inconvenient truth that quickly emerged was that in a joined-up universe of business relationships, precious little could escape such a meltdown unharmed.
Bermuda was no exception. With international business growth beginning to slow, due mainly to softening premium rates and reduced investment income, Bermuda’s GDP had peaked in 2008, topping $6 billion in current dollars.
By 2011, the total number of jobs generated by the international business sector had fallen to 4,077, reflecting a 4.9% decrease year over year. The actual number of companies on the Bermuda register has also declined. By the end of last year, they numbered 14,838 international companies, 253 fewer than the number for 2010.
Not surprisingly for a travel destination which draws the bulk of its business from North America, our tourism sector was also severely impacted in 2008 and 2009. Double digit percentage reductions were recorded in the number of visitors arriving by air.
However, in 2010 the decline was arrested and in 2011 air visitor figures rose for the first time since 2007. Cruise visitors also increased in 2011, rising to 415,711, an increase of 19.5% and the highest number we have ever recorded. Consequently, total visitor expenditure for the first three quarters of 2011 increased 12.6% year over year.
However, almost every other aspect of our economy was negatively affected by the global slowdown. Jobs growth had already begun to moderate in 2007. But in 2008, total employment throughout our economy peaked at 40,213 jobs, reflecting year over year growth of0.9%. Since then, the total number of jobs in Bermuda has declined each year by 1.7%, 3.6% and 1.9% for 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively.
For the second year in a row, our construction industry recorded the highest number of job losses. Employment numbers fell from 3,042 in 2010 to 2,549 in 2011, a reduction equivalent to 16% of the workforce in that sector of the economy. Real estate and renting activities were also hit, with total jobs shrinking by 14.5% last year.
Our 2010 Census pegged the official unemployment rate at 6%. Additionally, preliminary data from our 2011 employment survey indicates that, for the third year in a row, the total number of jobs in the economy fell, dropping from 38,097 to 37,379. A decline of 718 jobs. Overall, since 2008, a total of 2,834 jobs have been lost representing 7% of the total workforce.
So what lessons have we learned from this recent bumpy journey and how are we applying them?
As indicated earlier, we are ever mindful of the unintended consequences that Dr. King highlighted.For this reason if no other, I think it is important to keep your powder dry. In other words, have a clear understanding of which problems can be addressed by actions taken in Bermuda and which must await developments elsewhere.
As mentioned in passing a little earlier, one of the first lessons to be learned was that as a participant in the global economy, there was no escape from the harmful effects of contagion.
This was graphically demonstrated very early in the recession when two leading Bermuda hotel properties were directly impacted by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which was to have been the source of development financing for these hotels. Contagion was also the root of problems for one of our banks, which was holding toxic assets on its balance sheet.
Additionally, during the darkest days of the recession, we learned the importance of effective communications. Throughout this difficult period, we maintained a commitment to transparency and staged regular town hall-style meetings in order to keep the community fully informed of what was happening with the economy.
More recently, we raised Bermuda’s statutory debt ceiling and introduced a Medium Term Expenditure Framework. This will help us in planning multi-year financial targets which are impossible to achieve in a single budget.
We also produced and distributed our first ever pre-Budget Report one month in advance of the National Budget Statement for 2012-2013. The aim of this initiative was to outline a multi-year strategy spelling out not just what was planned for the next year but where we think we are likely to be four years from now. This Report also had the effect of avoiding surprises in the actual budget.
We took care to explain that fiscal policy making in the current economic climate can be a challenge and that future revenues can be almost impossible to predict. Hence our fiscal strategy needs to allow for wide variations.
Job creation remains among our top priorities but we are also focused on job preservation. With this in mind we have introduced tax concessions and roll backs to protect thousands of jobs in international businesses, hotels, restaurants and retailers.
Spearheading our national job stimulus plan is our Job Corps Programme and a new one-stop careers centre. Of equal
importance is the drawing up of new workforce development legislation and modification of our existing employment laws. Additionally, we will provide work permit exemptions and permanent residence to eligible job creators.Of course, we all know that the piper has to be paid and that programmes like these usually carry a high price. Inevitably, one of the financial consequences of this policy response for Government’s fiscal position has been a widening of the budget deficit and an increase in debt.
In effect, a significant segment of the revenue given up in new concessions to businesses and relief to seniors and families was replaced by borrowing. In other words, Government’s strategy was to act as an economic backstop to avoid systemic risk to exposed key sectors of our economy. The goal was to avoid a deepening of the recession that would take a more severe toll on families and businesses.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are promoting a culture of enterprise, leadership and self-reliance as a necessary condition for economic growth and development in Bermuda. For the time being, the objective is to help the economy do more with less. Help nurse it through this phase of the slowdown.
Ultimately, the aim must be to help the private sector grow. This is where we need to understand what can be fixed by measures applied in Bermuda and what cannot. Help is on the way. The US economy is showing strong signs of resurgence. Jobless numbers are down. The stock market is up. Interest rates are flat. The signs are good but for satellite economies like ours, help cannot come too soon.
We cannot control what happens elsewhere only how we respond to it. Driven by our proactive bias to action, we are working on ways to help the private sector help itself, especially in the area of international business where we are focused on reducing red tape. We think red carpet treatment is the way to go and we are setting up a new advisory group to explore ways to streamline international business formations.
Will these measures work? We believe they will but it is worth heeding Dr. King’s warning about the precarious nature of economic progress. Our economy, like many of those represented here today, is directly impacted by decisions of policy makers in the United States and Europe, who are all too capable of the wrong decision at the worst possible time. Wrong and worst, in this case, being defined in entirely subjective terms, of course.
Do international relationships and trade links help? Yes of course they do. Bermuda is an Associate Member of CARICOM and cherishes the long-standing legacy of leadership, cultural ties and the common ground that bind us together on many fronts. Though each territory is unique, we draw strength from one another, especially on occasions like this when we sit together in open and honest dialogue, sharing challenges, offering solutions.
Which brings me to a longer term strategic challenge that we all face. How should we plan to compete in the future? Do we each harness our considerable national talents and concentrate on coming up with new concepts to attract tomorrow’s investors? Do we pool our efforts? Do we just plod on crafting Tax Information Exchange Agreements, now nearing 32 in all for Bermuda? Is this just all about innovation and the race to develop new products or programmes?
We are already deep into the alternative capital phase in the financial services sector. Sidecars and cat bonds are no longer considered unusual vehicles. In Bermuda, Special Purpose Insurers or SPIs are almost de rigeur. We licensed 23 SPIs last year, almost three times the number we licensed in 2010. So what is the answer?
I said earlier that I would be referencing two insightful quotes about the nature of progress. You’ve heard the quote from Dr. King. Here’s the second and it comes from the lips of President John F. Kennedy: “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”
We all have access to tremendous levels of intellectual power in our various jurisdictions. What are we doing to equip this human capital to support our various economies in financial services or tourism or in the skilled trades? After all, they won’t all want to be accountants or lawyers or bankers.
At the end of the day, it is the private sector that will generate the demand that will drive up employment. Our job, the Government’s job, is to be the enablers and help the private sector do what it does best.
Today, new ideas are quickly and easily replicated. In this age of electronic media and social networking, competitive advantages can be disappointingly short-lived. A well-trained, adaptive workforce, on the other hand, is a more durable competitive advantage and is much harder to copy.
Bermuda’s education focus in the upcoming school year will be the introduction of Career Academies or what we are calling, Career Pathways. There has long been a cry for the re-introduction of vocational education in schools and the introduction of the Career Pathways programme later this year offers a Bermudian solution to the need for students to be prepared for the workplace.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I hope I have given you a sense of the Bermuda journey and the challenges we have faced along the way. Our reputation has helped immensely. We try to always remember that we are a service-based economy. For us, that means a reputation for service excellence and a culture that underpins it must be at the core of Bermuda’s brand.
Finally, I’d like to say something about the human contribution to Bermuda’s progress. How could I not, right? Recessions and financial hardships teach you something about the human condition, your own and those around you. I’m talking now about the resilience of the Bermudian people as well as the way that our competitors have responded to us.
It is said that the world loves winners. But in my experience, winners can also incur the jealous resentment of those who would like to have won. In terms of lessons learned, it was clear that the economic downturn brought out the best and the worst in all of us.
While some of our competitors saw it as an opportunity to score points, the Bermudian people saw it as an opportunity to close ranks, re-examine priorities and demonstrate caring leadership. Indeed, the camaraderie we experienced in Bermuda was also felt among members of the OECD Global Forum, which Bermuda had the privilege of chairing last year.
My friends, Hon. Ministers, Conference hosts, ladies and gentlemen I hope my account of Bermuda’s recent progress has been of interest to you. I also hope that I have given you a meaningful peek inside Bermuda’s engine room and that you have concluded that our approach reflects the wisdom of that ancient Chinese proverb: Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Thank you.
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She’s right on the mark about 1998 being a “…game changer…”.
Along with the game, the rules changed and Bermuda’s “national” scorecard reads rather like our “cricket” results in the UAE….
The game is lost under this Manager and it’s overdue for heads to roll…
Yes she is right on the money about 1998…..as many of you hated that change, because you did not want a black government in Power an it shifted the white power base.
“What does that mean? It means that this pivotal change of Government in November 1998 initiated a process that allowed the country to move from being under the control of a “ruling business class elite” to an administration which was committed to broadening the base of political participation for all Bermudians”.
You are on something specialgirl…So are you going to tell me how i can be paid to blog yet?
What you will see if you read on is a poster bang on about OBA//UBP, race and generally irrelevant to the topic stuff. People want what is best for Bermuda, it has nothing to do with race, hate or otherwise. The only hate being spewed on a propaganda like basis comes from MIA.
The Premies speech in the Cayman Islands… ended with an ancient chinese proverb and I quote what she said ” be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still ”
In my opinion our premier has been standing still for far to long !! it is time for action.
“The statistics speak for themselves. International business maintained its status as the biggest contributor to our GDP and continued to strengthen sharply following the election of the PLP in 1998. So much for those who had predicted an exodus of business under a PLP Government.”
Is she for real? Can she really stand there and say that with a straight face? WTF?
The companies may still have a presence here, but the jobs and intellectual capital have gone, and with it the spending power that keeps the economy humming.
What a disingenuous individual. Failure Cog. Nothing but failure.
In comparison to other countries during this recession and economic downturn….YES….YES………….Bermuda is faring well. As the economy slowly recovers, why are companies seeking to set up Business in Bermuda? Stop the Spin there OBA/UBP. Do you ever have anything positive to say about Bermuda? Or is it your OBA/UBP job just to spin out all negative things to make persons feel Bermuda is finished? Is this your political strategy to encourage voters to vote OBA/UBP who have a magic wand to change everything around? Really, Really,? Sorry, OBA/UBP cannot magically do anything, as they do not even have any real solutions. So far they have only presented the ideas that UBP’s old platform. If things were so bad in Bermuda, why have those OBA/UBP fans headed to greener pastures? Guess it is a fictional story they tell, as they have difficulty separating “Fact from Fiction”.
“It’s been said that God alone knows the future but only politicians can alter the past.”.
If only it was altered for the better!
What is she smoking? I want some of that delusion tobbakee as well. Wonder how many in the audience, who are aware of the truth of the miserable failure that the PLP has been, questioned what she was on as well?
Get your tail back home and sort out your back yard!
The cog goes to cayman which is our competitor and gives them all our secrets – she spoke about Bermuda’s GDP, international business, the recession, tourism, the construction industry, job growth, international relationships and everything else! Cog what are you doing? Aren’t we trying to stay ahead of the Caymans? Please Cog being you don’t have a clue – do us all a favor (be like Ewart) P lease L eave P olitics!
Premier Cox goes to Cayman where she is highly respected. You hide out on Cyber-Space everyday on a daily “diet of spewing out OBA/UBP rhetoric”, never fully examining the issues for what they are. If comes from the OBA/UBP all is well, if comes from the PLP….it is not…….what bias, nonsense, garbage, and baloney. Stop the revolting gibberish, babble, and grow up politically.Your nasty agenda is getting real old………older by the minute….
Yes Mia because we see her and hear her on a daily basis and see the impact of her financial mismanagement whereas the Cayman’s receive the PLP press clippings which is like fact and fiction….
600+ jobs lost this year and more losses on the way.
No government worker have been lay off so were did all these 600 people get lay off from. FOOL…
No Government worker has been laid off – yet, but it will happen. There is no other way of meeting the payroll. Paula Cox has used every possible method of raising $200mn to cover expenses including payroll this year leaving nothing for next year.
Yeah and if the OBA/UBP get into power, they will cut everything….believe me….everything, as they do not truely care for the average Mr.& Mrs Bermuda, do not let anyone fool you.
It will most likely be the remit of any government elect to trim expenditure in the public and civil services in order to introduce a financial model which is not so top heavy on the costs, as is currently the case…….whichever party is elected is essentially picking up a poison chalice and is left with some very difficult decisions.
And making the children of the MR. And Mrs. Bermudain Struggle with the debt they have settled them and us with is caring for Bermuda? Please you need your head examined.
LOL Hello MAWI that specialgirl4u I keep telling you about is hanging around “8vote” round Alaska Hall………………..
Layoffs frpm Jan 2011 til now
Ace 17
Aircraft Services Bermuda 35
Allied World 15
Appleby 12
Attride-Stirling & Woloniecki 2
Bacardi 13
Bank of New York Mellon Alternative Investment Services 20
Berkeley Institute 20
Bermuda Press 14
Bermuda Zoological Society 3
BTC 25
Butterfield Bank 25
Butterfield Fulcrum 10
CedarBridge 27
Citco Fund Services 20
Citigroup 105
Conyers Dill & Pearman 13
Department of Education 42
Furniture Flair 3
Government golf courses 6
Green Lantern 15
HomeZone 14
HWP 21
Ironshore 16
Jupiter Asset Management 11
M3 Wireless 3 (after merger)
Patterson Contracting 10
Saltus Grammar School 8
Torus 4
Universal Electric 18
Wheels Cycles 3
Willowbank 46
626 jobs
Ah..you miss the AIG redundancies from 2010 – at least 8 that I know of.
@Sooooo…….This is not unusual or different from another country during a recession. Recession bring with it, job losses, cut-backs, and even increase in food prices. So what is your point? But, overall Bermuda is doing better than most countries during this downturn of our economy. So what is your solution, or do you have any except to be the same old critical OBA/UBP.
Wrong Specialgirl. Wrong.
Go study the statistical data in other countries. Look at when the recession first hit….and now…study the trends….and you will see Bermuda looks much better. Our looks pale in comparison. Please……
You numbskulls keep quoting “other countries” like there was not something different about the economy here that could have lessened the blow more than what the PLP has managed. Why don’t you choose to have a look at (do your research) at some of the countries that have done much better than Bermuda? PLEASE. God your ignorant.
@Mia.. I was replying to Madog’s commet as to where the 600+ layoffs came from…. I would also point out to them that almost 5o of the 600 were Government Employees..
You’re the FOOL! Look at Soooo’s comments FOOL!
What an excellent delivery Premier Cox. We stand behind you and the PLP 100%. Don’t listen to all the nasty and disrespectful comments that those other people (can’t think of another name) write on the blogs.
Keep up the good work. There are many, many people on this island who believe in you.
PLP all the way!
How can you stand behind someone 100% who is failing you, the people of Bermuda, our children on a regular basis. We are in a riduculpus amount of debt, we are failing to make a surplus meaning we are borrowing more, just to pay the interest. For every dollar the taxpayer earns and pays the government, Bermuda only sees 83cents and it will get worse.
To say you stand 100% behind a highy succesful leader in a time of great prosperity is not a wise thing to do as every leader and party/group in history reaches a point of saturation and redundancy. To stand 100% behind the current party who are unethical, isleading, uncertain, clueless and leave you to repay the debt is STUPID.
Isleading= misleading,
only idiots have your thoughts
How about Bermuda all the way for a change.
Traitor, I tell you, she’s a traitor!
Nice piece of sarcasm there….I hope.
Actually, Ms Cox was only one of a number of keynote speakers, not ‘the’ keynote speaker.
That aside, I’m certain she gave a lovely presentation and truly believes the things she spoke about.
It certainly would explain the reality we’re all presently living in and why so little is being done to address the problems facing the majority of Bermudians.
I understand that this was an international forum and that Premier Cox wanted to project Bermuda in a positive light…….still the amount of “spin” is incredible. Premier Cox is fond of quotes as is demonstrated in this and many of her speeches, and so I offer this one:
“Don’t argue for other people’s weaknesses. Don’t argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it–immediately.”
Stephen Covey
Until we hear the PLP Government actually admitting that mistakes have been made, how can we believe that anything has been learned?
There is one thing worse than standing still, going backwards
Unfortunately it reads with the usual rewriting of history and distortion of truth interlaced with plenty of cliches. Left a lot out though didn’t she? All those freebies now reversed, debt sky high, Civil Service bloated and falling GDP. Interesting comment that in her mind the the Great Recession was only 2008-2009. No wonder Bermuda is still going downhill.
She forgot to tell them that the PLP Government took us from a profitable country right down the drain into major debt and they don’t have a plan to get us out of it.
Why are you still here, if we are in such a big hole? Why are our rating still high? Why are IB still coming to Bermuda, and we have been rated high by important agencies? Please stop the OBA/UBP Rhetoric….it is getting older by the day……..same BS…………..
You really are dumb arent you? We are still here because this is our home too, our rating may still be high but they are falling. Please stop with your oba/ubp< thats really old coming from the PLP/BLACK BERET CADRE, as well as the race card. what i really cant understand though, is your undying allegiance the PLP/BLACK BERET CADRE, anyone criticizes the current government or has a different view, you waste no time coming to their defence. You should be happy when people challenge your government, and happier still when they can face these challenges (which they do not) and give valid reasons for the actions and decisions that have been made.
Actually il correct myself, i do understand, these are the actions coming from someone motivated by money, someone being paid to blog on these sites and im not the only person that can see this, you really need to check your morales and please stop this, keep the fear in the government not the people.
http://politicalquote.blogspot.com/2011/01/time-to-act.html
@COme COrrect……OBA/UBP bloggers who live on the blogs and yourself daily spewing out BS…….I think the OBA/UBP fans are excellent examples of paid bloggers. I think you should reserve the name-calling for yourself, as often one can be ignorant of knowledge. Safe in Cyber-Space spilling out babble and gibberish ramblings about Bermuda. Painting a negative picture about Bermuda. If anyone that represents the PLP, you attempt to spin it to suggest they are paid. I think it is more common coming from the OBA/UBP who sit in Cyber-Space lynching out daily, but cannot take it when someone puts in back into their face. Please do not even mention the BLACK Beret or other, as you lack real knowledge on what is represented or what Racism or the Race card is, or you would not make such a silly statement. GO READ AND EDUCATE YOURSELF FISRT and maybe your level of debate can raise and be of a higher intellectual level. Here I suggest you spent some time reading:
1.‘Dr. Quito Swan discusses his work, Black Power in Bermuda and the Struggle for Decolonization.
2.Dear White America, Letter to a Minority’ by Tim Wise
3.Playing the Race Card: melodramas of Black and White form Uncle Tome to O.J by Simpson Linda Williams
4.Color-Blindness, White like Me and White Privilege—Tim Wise.
Ooh..touched a nerve.
We all know the Black Beret Cadre shot George Duckett. And the PLP know too….
…But I have…I love Bermuda history, which is probably why I can understand what’s really going on, there is no way you can support a party in the way you do without motivation, the real question is, what is it? Sadly I hope its money. Do you ever question the PLP/BLACK BERET CADRE? If you don’t that’s just stupid. Question everything! If it doesn’t make sense, usually somethings up. As far as hiding in cyber space, I don’t hide behind a name, its a statement, I’ll give you my name but it comes with a price, yours. I’d love to meet you. Lunch? I’ll buy. If your up for it let me know. Until then I’ll take every opportunity to point out you propaganda:) have a nice day.
I can’t believe she actually stood up there and bragged about free day care, free tuition at Bermuda College, and free bus and ferry service – they were truly successful weren’t they?
As far as IB goes, the PLP was smart enough not to mess with the structure the UBP put in place and aided by a couple of catastrophes (911 and Katrina) they saw IB grow in their early years in office. But their current policies have reversed that trend. The island is hemorrhaging jobs with no end in sight (not that we’d expect her to admit that).
There’s something not right in this partiular statement….
The Minister: “By 2007, international companies were generating approximately 4,700 jobs in Bermuda and had become the major driver of demand,…..
By 2011, the total number of jobs generated by the international business sector had fallen to 4,077, reflecting a 4.9% decrease year over year. The actual number of companies on the Bermuda register has also declined. By the end of last year, they numbered 14,838 international companies, 253 fewer than the number for 2010….”
The reality is that 4,700 jobs (actually 4,761) in Bermuda in IB in 2007 falling to 4,077 jobs in Bermuda in IB in 2011 reflects a 14.4% decrease from 4,761 jobs in 2007 to 4,077 jobs 2011. Not 4.9%.
On the other hand, the average annual decrease year-by-year was 3.8%; which is another way of correctly describing the job losses.
What does “4.9% decrease year over year” mean? What does it refer to?
What is your point Larry? Mr. Larry, sorry but you are not a qualified economist. Yet you attempt to spin each week information in the Sun, as if you have all the answers to Bermuda’s economy. Do you expect during a recession for there to be no job losses, no companies closing down? What are facts that impact any economy during a recession? Expediency, you always forget to discuss in your articles the key factors that lead to the world-wide recession, and their impact upon Bermuda’s economy. After all, Bermuda is no special place free from the impact of the world. But, since you’re no qualified economist it is likely you’re not able to address this real issue. Or for political expediency you will leave it out, to spin the story in a certain light.
Mia/Rhonda/Betty Trump/Laverne and Paula is a qualified Finance Minister? wonderful track record of predicting revenue and expenses….
What are the facts that impact an economy in a recession? Factors that lead to a world-wide recession? Well I’m sure as hell no “econonomist” but could a war budget of world conquest proportions do it? Didn’t Obama say he was bringing the troops home? Yea to send the next tour in. Don’t you think if they stopped the war on “terrorism” (a word repeated over and over on the american news, a similar tactic of mia/specialone, repetition) they could use that money to take the sting out of the recession?…maybe in a land of rainbows and unicorns. But until then we are going to have to roll with the punches and try to stop as many losses as we can, and not just to get votes, too bad IB has already taken one of those blows.
By the way if you google the american national debt, you can literally watch it rise by hundreds of thousands every second…does that represent the investment for their country?
If this wasn’t my home and my people, our situation would almost be laughable, but I don’t find it funny.
Your statement proves how uninformed, unapprised, walking around in a blind political OBA cloud, you are. You are unacquainted and not learned the real impact of the recession. WOW…. In addition, you’re lacking the skill set or ability to critically analysis “facts from fiction”, you are so politically blind that you are not able to examine the real implications of the world recession and its impact on Bermuda. I understand your political blinders do not allow you to see beyond the political realm of the OBA/UBP ideology framework. It is therefore natural your comments will be limited, unqualified, amateur and untrained and incapable of thinking any further. It is likely you’re only capable of presenting as if all problems that exist in Bermuda are the PLP fault, and seeking daily to spew any kind of critics on the PLP. This seems to be the make-up of the OBA/UBP fans. Well sad indeed.
Honestly…I am unqulaified, amateur, and undertrained in repects to politics, but incapable of thinking any further? I disagree, I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. “If you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its entire life as if its stupid” why did you just judge me? I have my certifications in what I do thanks (something you would probably never atempt), and that my strong point, but please forgive my interest to learn about “your” apparent subject, I won’t post again…
Not! Funny thing is not once did I mention the oba or PLP/BLACK BERET CADRE in my above post nor do I support either party thanks. So now allow me to take my limited, incapable position in life an tell u to f@ck off because no matter what you say every time you spill your crap no matter what name its under, believe me, I’ll speak out, unless someone more qualified beats me to it
.
Now you’re attempting to distance, detach, and space yourself away from the OBA/UBP….Wow can stand firm for what you believe in. Go read those books I recommended and learn more, maybe your argument will be more fuller contextual understanding, and accurate worldview., You only seem capable of repeating about the Black Beret…read about it carefully and develop the fuller historical context, also while you’re at it, read about the treatment of Blacks in Bermuda. I do not think you are lacking the framework, circumstance and background of the historical context back in the day in regards to the Black Beret. Like the historical context of the Jews, Black slavery, fight for racial justice, and other important historical events in our history. I think your understanding is based upon someone else’s thoughts and worldview, and so you hang on to it.
Sorry it should read….I do think you are lacking the framework, circumstances and background of the historical context back in the day in regards to the Black Beret. Like the historical context of the Jews, Black slavery, fight for racial justice, and other important historical events in our history. I think your understanding is based upon someone else’s thoughts and worldview, and so you hang on to it.
My understanding of the black berets is from a witness
and I dare you to attack his credibilty.
Sorry it should read…your an ignoramous, My understanding of the black berets is from a witness
and I dare you to attack his credibilty.
Economists are probably the major reason Bermuda’s economy is the mess it’s in. Paula Cox has relied on economists to advise her when she should have paid attention to what was happening in the real world. Economists rely on theory and mathematical equations. Remember when Paula referred to her use of “Econometrics”? Look it up. People like Larry merely take facts, common sense and knowing what is going on around them to provide their opinions, which generally are far more accurate.
@cancer – get a cure please cause you surely are sounding delusional. Bob Richards belittled Bermuda the Premier was showing off the great qualities of Bermuda. Get a Life you people!
What reality are you living in? your going to be one of those people that gets what they deserve, unless the majority has opened their eyes.
so Brown and Cox go to Cayman which wants all of Bermuda’s business and one trashes the British and the other talks about freebies that she conveniently withdrew once realized that nothing is for free….Certainly gave the Caymans lots of stuff to use against Bermuda….how totally unpatriotic of you Ewart and Paula…..egos and fluff….
That not how the Caribbean folks view Brown and Cox, they see them in an extremely positive light. Sorry to disappoint you, but those two are valuable by our sister and brothers in the Caribbean. Hate and dislikes only comes from their own country, which is sad indeed. No matter what they do, OBA/UBP fans will not accept it or give credit where is is due. The daily negative comments are evidence of this. It is only the OBA/UBP that attempt to view them through negative lens to make political points, even it if means painting Bermuda in a bad light…do OBA/UBP…silly season indeed.
I’m the Cog has her next “job” all lined up – as an over-payed EU bureaucrat running around Brussels pretending she’s somebody important. No more than Ewart, Bermuda is just a platform, which explains all the sucking up to the Euro trash these past few years – and the betrayal of good friends of Bermuda like Mr. John Deuss presently on trial in the Netherlands because of the Cog and her cabal.
It never ceases to amaze me how so many voters cannot see through these pseudo-intellectual, lefty-posing parasites running around pretending they are acting in Bermuda’s best interest. The travel itinerary of the Cabinet alone these past five years gives the game away, and that is not even examining the bills. Instead, every time anybody (white, black, purple, beige, yellow, orange – makes no difference)asks a difficult, penetrating, intelligent question, they get shot down as racists, Uncle Toms, etc by hanger-on hench-persons like Rolfe and Laverne.
If you think it’s a bad situation now, reelect these jerks and see what happens.
I think you need to reflect from within. Examine your own members of the OBA/UBP. Careful examination suggests that more revulsion, hate, racism and nasty behaviours are posted daily by the OBA/UBP fans/supporters. Your post clearly is an example of such repugnance. I suggest you represent the parasites type protocol which you label others as having. You have no real love for the people, except to gain power by any means necessary. Political power is your only concern, not caring for the average persons. I think you need to go back and reflect on yourself, and re-read the many post by OBA/UBP fans. Many of the comments indicated that they are more full of hatred, spitefulness, mean and vicious and malicious behaviours. You do nothing to promote coming together of Bermudians, instead you actually support the negative interaction by the members of the OBA/UBP. “The Pot calling the Kettle black”…what a real joke by all you OBA/UBP folks……
You disrespect the Premier Cox , the leader of this country, every day; by calling her a Cog…..can you accept if I call Mr. Bob Richards “Mr. Uncle Ruckus”. I am sure you would not take to that too kindly. But, yet the OBA/UBP does this on a daily in and out basis
You are right, I have no respect for Premier Cox. However, true to form, you suggest it is a racial thing. Not at all: it is purely about money and where and how it has gone, a subject which you apparently have chosen to ignore.
And I didn’t ignore the fact that there’s 6 oba/ubp’s in there, 4 in another, 5 in another. What is it like $10 per? What you are doing is a really pathetic attept at brainwashing. I’ve asked you this before and I’ll ask again, how do we get one of these jobs? I’m qualified and bermudian, time are hard on all of us now, do we really need to march on alaska hall during the next meeting and demand our blog jobs?
At least you gave her respect and used her proper title, I accomplished that much, hope it continues….
The following is from today’s Cayman Compass newspaper covering Ewart Brown’s speech:(‘he’ being E. Brown).
[He admitted that a survey of Bermudians would probably show that more than 70 per cent are opposed to independence from the UK. “This is not the first time that people have been confused,” he said.]
That clearly says it all.
What a jerk eh?
The only joke is you Sandgrownan………and others that support you and think like you……..On a daily “diet of spewing out OBA/UBP rhetoric”, never fully examining the issues for what they are. If comes from the OBA/UBP all is well, if comes from the PLP….it is not…….what bias, nonsense, garbage, and baloney. Stop the revolting gibberish, babble, and grow up politically.
Oh Mia,BettyTrump,Rhonda/Laverne I’m actually starting to like your continued reference to OBA/UBP and suggest you lengthen it to OBA/UBP/BDA as long as one of those 3 is running the island this time next year we at least have a chance…
Mia- How do you find the time to defend this Govt against everything?
Same way you think the OBA is great. But it is the same old folks from the UBP so stop and look carefully into your own closet. Lots of skeletons in there and some are not so pretty. While I recognize that governments are not perfect, and often doing not execute all thing well, at least they do their best. OBA/UBP was not great when in power, and still not great, and if returned to power will also make mistakes as well. Who knows OBA/UBP might repeat and even make bigger mistakes than the PLP? They may bring about change that people they anticipated, and not all good. Change of power does not always translate into better; sometimes it is 10 times worst.
Worse not worst you halfwit.
Hit the nail on the head there Mia. Since 1998 – 10 times worse.
A wise man once said, “An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.”
Every politician is human. Everyone has to base future decisions on what they know now (or are advised about).
Sometimes those judgements and decisions are proved wrong. Some of the greatest leaders (military, political and business) are quick to admit errors and make and enact a corrective plan. They take full responsibility for errors; are always self critical of their own achievements to ensure they are really a success; and never look for scapegoats. They are the ones in power, with the ability to make the corrective changes through action and not just talk (should they really want to). The final responsibilities of any failure are theirs, and theirs alone. Although the community takes some responsibility either due to blind faith in their support of them (thus rejecting all form of criticism as being the fault of others/outside events); or continually allowing it to occur.
What happens in those rare instances when someone says, “I was wrong”? Surprisingly, forgiveness is granted and respect is elevated.
I make no reference to any political party in the above comments. This can be used in multiple countries and multiple political parties. However, I just happen to post it in a discussion about the PLP being in power for the last 14 years and their perceptions of it being a success.
@ Mia From my perspective it is you who needs to grow up politically. Cutting and pasting the same comments over and over defending the PLP is a) not making you or your party look intelligent b) adding fuel to the fire that the PLP are a rascist organisation (as you bring race into everything even when it is simply not relevant) and c) allowing neutrals to view the OBA supporters as intelligent, business like people and the PLP supporters as ignorant uneducated fools.
And before you ask – I’m a 40 year old black male with a black wife and two black children who are educated in the public school system, who voted PLP at the last election – not a rich white business man
Well said! We are not the minority, they are! The power is in the people, Bermuda’s people!
The question the survey should have asked DREB , ” Is this the first time that you have deceived the people of Bermuda ?”
@Mia – is that you again specialgirl? Sure sounds like you spilling your same old same old UBP/OBA nonsence. You know your friend Cancer can spot your rhetoric anywhere, right away. Btw the only person that made up the name “Cog” is Madame Cog herself. So if she is getting stuck with a nickname that PLP blind loyalists don’t like then they need to address that directly to her! Lol!
Grow up; I think you need to request this from your OBA/UBP fans that sit safely in Cyber-space daily lynching the government. Many OBA/UBP fans write unpleasant comments non-stop on a daily basis. Race, name-calling, untruths, and fiction are mention by them as well, yet you tend to glare over this, why? Guess it is who it is coming from, that you consider it acceptable. You sound extremely disingenuous, and blind. Why request I not write a comment in support of what I believe? Yet you continue to encourage the OBA/UBP fans to write daily, and often it is not pleasant or of a high level of debate. It is a daily attempt by the OBA/UBP to knock the government down, regardless if they do good. You called this justice, and fair? What makes it okay for them to spew out OBA/UBP rhetoric daily and yet you have difficulty when I voice my opinion to support who I choose? Why do you reject anyone that seeks to defend the PLP, after all it is their privilege to do so? You have lost your level of creditability and integrity.
Oh, by the way your color does not matter to me, it is more your intellectual ability to address an issue in a fair and consistent manner based upon a solid argument. I prefer if your argument is based upon “facts and not fiction and spin”. Why did you feel it necessary to mention your color, if race was not an issue for you? After all there are a few black swing voters our there. Please, I expected more from you, as you call yourself intelligent, yet you accept and condone the negative, unpleasant comments made daily by OBA/UBP supporters. You would have gained my attention and respect, if you spoke out on this issue, instead of condone their behaviors. You support these negative behaviors? Please this brings your level of integrity into questions big time.
Just as incomprehensible as Specialgirl ever was.
Yep that’s specialgirl – I got her down!!! Mia if you prefer…. people do not mind the fact that you support your party. They don’t mind that your a PLP supporter. The main fact is that you are a blind loyalist to the PLP and by your blogs you never appear to admit and accept that the PLP have made some mistakes – many mistakes in many people’s eyes. Why do you think so many people are now saying hey will not vote. These are mostly ex-PLP supporters. The fact that you are so willing to defend defend defend all the time becomes so repetitive from you it becomes the same old same old as people know exactly what your going to say. So when your willing to accept the facts – that the PLP have disheartened many people then there will never be “a higher level of debate” which you continue ask for…. because you are unable to look at issues from a reasonable and opposite point of view. Take it from Cancer who knows best!
No mention of the spiraling violence shootings and sexual,assaults funny that ,she should have mention that all this time we were breeding gangsters and murderers
Oh my dur – some people on this blog are the limit! I doubt that some of you have ever entertained a single independent thought in your lives. Don’t be a sheep and consider facts before you decide where you stand; otherwise you just come across as plain old embarrassing!! You cannot argue with fact and the fact is that the PLP have single handedly increased crime, increased public debt resulting in a very disgruntled Bermuda. Dont give me the ‘oh other countries are worse’ – well hell i dont give a F*** about other countries ima Bermudian! And I know we can do better.