Video Replay: One Bermuda Alliance Town Hall
[Updated] Tune in below to watch the One Bermuda Alliance [OBA] Town Hall, which is being held this evening [Aug.11] at St. Mary’s Church Hall in Warwick.
The panelists are OBA MPs Bob Richards, Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, Dr. Grant Gibbons and Senator Craig Cannonier and they are discussing “the OBA’s plans to grow jobs, reduce debt and make the economy work better for all Bermudians.”
Update 9:14pm: The Town Hall has ended, and you can view the 90 minute replay below. The bottom bar can be used to fast forward.
Update 11:30pm: The slides that Mr Richards’ used in his presentation are below, click arrow to move to next slide, and click bottom right corner icon to view in full screen:
Update 11:00pm: Quotes from Bob Richards, who spoke mostly on the economy:
The overspending started long before the global recession. This is what happens when you are a cog in the wheel, instead of behind the wheel and in control.
The PLP has done terrible damage to the economic fortunes of Bermuda, they have spent us into debtors’ prison. And that has the potential to encumber our ability for generations to come, and that took six years of spending.
Alot of this money was spent on themselves and their friends.
The big decision for people in Bermuda is do we want to leave this economy in the hands of the people who have taken it to the brink of disaster, or do we want to put it in safer hands…
We would cut consultants by a huge amount and we would also cut frequent and lavish travel that has been engaged in by Government Ministers and senior civil servants. No more shuttle launches.
We would reduce the pay of Cabinet Ministers by at least 10%. You all know this, but leaders must lead by example.
Our national confidence and optimism, which I think is a natural Bermudian attribute, has been dented by a series of blunders by this Government. I have never been around Bermuda and seen Bermudians so low, I am talking about spirit, so dejected. Ask young people in Bermuda about the future, they are so pessimistic.
Update 11:30pm: Quotes from Pat Gordon-Pamplin, who spoke mostly on tourism:
We have to push for pride in the hospitality industry through attitudes and training. Very, very crucial. The planning department must fast track some of these applications, the red tape…that is the barrier to success and development – its been the bane of our existence in terms of developing new hotel properties and the like .
We cannot assume that the world wide recession is our enemy, when we have failed to effectively spend the money we have in our own kitty to get the best bang for the buck.
We cannot continue capital spending where we get 1 for the price of 2, and then we wonder how can we or our great-grandchildren will fund a $1.1+ billion debt
When we do have the opportunity to see a major construction project progress, it is important to insist on Bermudian labour with a major construction project. We want to see our people being put to work.
The game changer we need is a change from a PLP government to an OBA government.
Update 6:30am: Quotes from Senator Craig Cannonier:
Do you know we have people who are not able to feed themselves in Bermuda? I don’t care if you are from St Davids, Somerset, South Shore, North Shore we are all consistently worried
We need to find a way to motivate ourselves to say ‘I am not going to wait for Bob to show me a slide,’ I am going to get off my behind and do something about the situation
I was on a panel with Senator Burt last year and this is what he said everytime I brought up all of the inconsistencies of what has taken place with the PLP, he said ‘Brother at the end of the day the voter will decide.’ I am going to say it again…at the end of the day the voter will decide.
The PLP are going to spin things all kind of ways
They are talking about an economic downturn, let me put it real for you – it is a crisis that we are in. We are in debt, we do not have enough money to pay our bills, not even close. And then when I hear a politician say ‘well its an investment’ – are you listening to what they said to you?
Update 9:00am: Senator Dr Kathy Michelmore speaking on the cost of healthcare:
Ultimately what needs to happen is we need to have a healthier population, to promote a healthy lifestyle and exercise especially in children – the next generation coming through – to prevent diabetes in particular.
We need to control the costs of overseas health care spending, its one of our major expenditures, we need to control that by regulation. People may not like that idea but it is going to have to happen. We need to look at what we can provide on island to make things more affordable.
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Why is Bob Richards so angry? Does he always have to shout?
OK, so the OBA had a towne hall meeting – with who? oh Yes with the following members, bringing you a new message out of their same old lying mouths:
Dr. Grant Gibbons, voted into parliament by UBP in a safer than saferer seat.
ET Richards, voted into parliament by UBP in what was a saferer seat, recall he almost lost it to the PLP.
Patricia Gordon Pamplin, voted into parliament by UBP, after getting a nepotistic senate seat from her sister former Premier Pamela Gordon in a safer than saferer seat.
Did they have a towne hall meeting to seek out input from the UBP community to disband and start a new party?
Did they resign their seats and have by-elections?
Is their now leader John Barritt saying he will resign his seat and have a by-election in Michael Dunkley is elected leader of the OBA, Yes John is!
You make the decision if they can be trusted.
Trust? Trusted to do what?
Wasn’t it the PLP who said “we had to deceive you”. Wasn’t it the PLP who said Bermudians come first, but then gave govt contracts to foreigners without a bidding process (kick-backs!). Wasn’t it the PLP who fought so hard to give the Tuckers Point white crowd their SDO so they could pour thousands of yards of concrete over our birth-right. Didn’t the PLP say before last years bye-election that “in 1998 it was the PLP’s turn, and now it’s Bermuda’s turn”. I could go on and on, but lengthy blogs are a turn-off.
Didn’t sound angry to me. Passionate, yes. Angry? No.
It’s curious that so few Bermudians are shouting at the catastrophic debt the PLP has amassed in the last few years, or the way they have consistently undermined our major economic sectors through misguided policies and passive/aggressive behaviours.
Yeah… IMO the PLP Gummint seem to be acting like Adult Children of Alcoholics! It’s classic behaviour, and it would help if they found an ACOA meeting to attend. Seriously.
How is the most negative man in Bermuda telling people to be positive?
He disrespected not just the PLP government, but also the members of the civil service with some of his negative comments.
Pointing out the misguided actions of our Government is not disrespect.
Critism is not necessarily disrespect – in the same way that service is not necessarily servitude. BTW, there is no such word as disrespected. Learn english.
@ ridiulupus
About time don’t you think? The people of this country have been disrespected and total embarrassed by the level of rude disrespectful arrogant comments and actions of the PLP government. It seems that you have been asleep (or micing) at the wheel like the present administration.
I guess you forgot the comments the premier made to the civil servants?
“Back to the plantation”
Pah!! UBP been doing long before PLP got in power. I don’t see any of you on here ever talking about that.
Ah, the old “the UBP did it” argument. Pathetic.
OBA/UBP supporters would say something like that.
Oh my god! You just make it worse by saying this. Credibility is now ZERO when things like this are said. And you people want us to forget about Brown? Ha! 13 years ago versus one year ago!
You mean 40 years versus 13 years.
The repackaged Ewart Brown Party (PLP) has done more damage to Bermuda in the past 5 years than the UBP ever did. Here’s their philosophy:
UBP if it’s good for the UBP it’s good for the Country.
PLP: if it’s good for the PLP it’s good for the PLP.
That’s it in a nutshell.
get the mike back in his hands!
nice ross perot impersonation..maybe you people need to actually start coming around the people you wish to vote for you..
Funny, its all about money – Bob you are no like nor respected by most in Bermuda.
Lets see if the press will tell us exactly how many attend or round it out to hundreds or thousands?
Very few follow the OBA – most of us believe they are poisonous
‘Funny its about money.’ HES THE SHADOW FINANCE MINISTER. Get a clue. He’d be wrong to start criticizing other aspects. Fool.
The only poisonous entity here is the PLP Government. The repackaged Ewart Brown Party is as ready as ever to lie to us and deceive us into believing all is A-Okay. Well it’s not! And they’re still attempting to cover up everything and take care of their friends at the expense of the People, ie: Santucci.
We are in a CRISIS situation with regards to the economy! And the PLP have proven that they have NO CLUE how to get us out of this frightening situation. It’s called Economic Slavery. Thanks for everything Ewart…
And why can’t the OBA be a repackaged UBP party?? If thats the case, which it most likely is, then the PLP supporters would be insane to vote for OBA. In which case PLP will win again.
There may be more ex-UPB in the PLP than in the ONE Bermuda Alliance.
This is for certain; there are MANY new faces in the OBA. Compared to the same-ol’ same-ol’ self-serving sycophants in the PLP.
The term ‘Repackaged Ewart Brown’ party is inappropiate in the context in which you are applying it. Why? Because for several reasons: (1) the party still has its same members (2) there is no movement from one party to another with in one year, (3) It is not made up of a coalition (party) 3 different parties, which person belonged to at least two/three (4) there is no break up the party and rejoining of another party again over and over again.
Thats the differences and so the title of “Repackaged Opposition UBP/OBP” does fit well. So do not attempt to use the term in the wrong context, only if referring to your party. Also do not steal words from Hon. Premier Cox….since you dislike the PLP so much !!
The term ‘Repackaged Ewart Brown’ party is inappropriate in the context in which you are applying it. Why? Because for several reasons: (1) the party still has its same members (2) there is no movement from one party to another within one year, (3) It is not made up of a coalition (party) 3 different parties, which person belonged to at least two/three (4) there is no break up the party and rejoining of another party again over and over again.
That the differences and so the title of “Repackaged Opposition UBP/OBP” does fit well. So do not attempt to use the term in the wrong context, only if referring to your party. Also do not steal words from Hon. Premier Cox….since you dislike the PLP so much!!
“Very few follow the OBA – most of us believe they are poisonous”
The PLP is poisonous as we have seen it with our own eyes over the last five years!
who is “us”?
“Very few follow the OBA”? Really? Guess 7-headed doesn’t pay any attention to polls. Last time I looked Paula’s numbers were in the toilet and the OBA and PLP were running about even–with lots of undecideds. Massive debt, unprecedented unemployment, unacceptable poverty, a failed education system–these will turn the tide at election time, and the undecideds will break for the only party that is capable of turning this huge mess around.
The “Repackaged Opposition” same players, same game, same shallow thinking Ministers, no change, no innovative ideas, did they call this Town Hall meeting, to following the PLP’s Town Hall meeting ? Looks like Craig is now joined the UBP, a party he did not want to be a member of.
Uh, uh, specialgirl4, the party that Craig doesn’t want to be a member of is the PLP.
What party did Craig say he has alliance closer to? PLP
Same minded Royal Gazette and Dunkley paid polls should not count.
They placed Bob Richards and Ewart Brown on the same page. Both opportunistic black men chasing after the green bucks.
So we should trade one poisonous party for another? Don’t think so.
Bob Richards already made his money – LEGITIMATELY! Ewart Brown, on the other hand, well you know the rest.
I can’t wait until the next post election break down. I am very much interested in seeing how deeply the dissatisfaction with the PLP runs, specifically in the black community. And whether or not it will be reflected in a low turnout of black voters…
Depends if the PLP engage in debate on this issues or run a “Brown” campaign. I suspect the latter.
I suspect that the sentiment of PLP dissatisfaction within the black community runs far deeper that many PLP supporters think. I don’t think that it will translate into votes for the OBA but I do think that it will be reflected in a poor turnout of black voters. To your point, the “Brown” campaigns had the effect of completely side stepping all of the important issues that really needed to be debated and simultaneously galvanizing the PLP base against a common enemy……white people. I honestly don’t see Paula Cox running that type of campaign. For all of her failings as Finance Minister, she is still an intellectual and would want to debate the issues. I just hope that the electorate gets a proper debate on all of the critical issues that face us and in response, they cast their votes based on a political platform and not racial rhetoric.
Possibly. Thing about Cog is that I’m not sure if she’s really in charge. I can see her lose her way in the debates and the “Brownites” resort to the old tactics.
Paula might , and that’s a BIG might , not conduct her personal campaign like that , but she knows the PLP will never be re-elected without it , so she’ll oversee the others doing it and let them get away with it.
She knows that the PLP will/could never win an election on ‘issues’ .
Interesting points, both of you. Thank you.
mite have been better they never posted any video or pictures
until thr ubp/oba actually change thier elitist ways nobody dont wanna hear from them ..even if they have the greatest sermon going it still a sermon of we only want yu wen its collection time
So what elitist ways would they be?
Elitist ways? You must be blind, dumb and deaf. It is the PLP that is self-serving and elitist, and you can’t see that? Well then, best of luck with your life of Economic Slavery.
Good point. No need to say what ways they will use again, we all know what they are. Well, majority of us black folks know anyway because we have been under the thumb for the whole UBP/OBA reign. Funny thing is though, since PLP’s inception into government, all the white folks seem to be complaining over every little thing. I guess its because they are now under the thumb and can’t handle it at all!! Getting a bit of their own medicine and just 10 years into it. Imagine their reaction in 20 years!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Ah, so it is about “getting even”..it is about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
This whole schtick about the pLP “governing Bermuda for all Bermudians” is balls, it’s really about sticking it to whitey then? I guess it means the artist that caused the Delusional Damsel so much distress was actually correct in his assessment?
Explain, in your own words, how Bermuda is a better place for black Bermudians now than it was in 1998. I’d be happy to hear your thoughts on public transport, education, health and the economy. Tell me about the growing underclass of low income Bermudians and the squeezed middle class.
But at least we know where we stand.
To be honest, it is not a better place when compared to 1998. The only difference is that now a lot more whites are feeling the same pressures that blacks felt under the UBP/OBA rule. In other words, for blacks it boils down to who would you rather be scr&wed by……….
…and that’s a piss poor way of looking at anything. Cuz I don’t want to be screwed by anybody.
And yeah. I’m a black Bermudian.
It may be a piss poor way, but its the truth. Who is to say that it will not happen again……..because last I heard no one can predict the future. The way I see it, I’ve been down the PLP road and the UBP/OBA road and am so tired of the same things. I agree it is time for change, but I just do not see a change with either party.
Did anyone on here even go to the OBA/UBP meeting?? I did, and it sounds like the old ways will come back if they get in. Already, Bobby and crew bubbled by saying they want to take unemployment down, but on the other hand they are saying there will be necessary job cuts?? Thats the old UBP’s way of spinning things.
You must have been at a different meeting. Richards said that the OBA would freeze hiring in the Civil Service, but there was no mention of job cuts. He said that the size of the Civil Service would be reduced through attrition. You must be thinking about a PLP meeting–after all, they’re the government that cut 95 jobs in education.
I WAS there…check the video if you think I’m wrong.
Nobody can say what will happen in the future… which is why we need to be prepared to support any party which proposes legislative changes to ensure that certain things don’t take place and that the public have some form of recourse if/when things go wrong.
I’ll be honest, the OBAs right to recall and ability for the public to petition a referendum on issues is very interesting. The PLP is still poking around with PATI legislation which they promised like 2 elections ago and still have not implemented.
If you were looking to get screwed by a black government, then congratulations. We’re all taking it. I am sick and tired of it and whilst you may be comfortable with the fact that it’s a black government screwing the people, my thing is that they should know better. Instead they seem content to stoop to the same pre-1998 levels that the then-UBP were at – arrogance, disdain and contempt for the electorate. Only time will tell whether the UBP learned the lesson the electorate tried to teach them… I think it’s time the PLP got a taste. But that’s just me.
….shakes…head…..
The complaining has come from Black, white and other. The PLP have obviously brainwashed you. Wakey Wakey, the country is under thumb, it’s future is at stake
So not brainwashed. Like I said above, blacks have always been under the thumb in Bermuda, now whites are under the thumb along with blacks. Hence your statement of “the country is under thumb.” Nothing new to us.
How does it feel by the way?????
Continuing economic slavery under the PLP scares the sh*t out of me!!
Imagine the debt and crime we’ll be facing if the PLoP are in for 20 years.
Imagine UBP/OBA are in for another 40 years………….
40 years is scare mongering, it’ll never happen. Give the ONE Bermuda Alliance a chance – just 5 years – and if you don’t like the OBA you can vote the repackaged Ewart Brown Party back in.
BTW, Ewart probably is still ‘pulling the strings’ anyway.
Wow. Pathetic. Sad. They were all dinosaurs from the UBP.
Bob Richards Shouting? I was there I heard no shouting. A good meeting. When does the canvassing begin
@ 1:31:50, did the guy just say that the OBA should get rid of collective bargaining rights for public sector employees…. Then Alan Marshall agrees that it should be an option! WOW
Does the OBA not believe in the right to organise? Who are these people?
Then Michelmore says they’ll stop people from going overseas for medical treatment? says “it won’t be popular, but necessary”…. WTF?
Oh My! Did they really say that?
Let me check.
That is very interesting if they did.
Take a careful look, Human Rights. Richards answers the question from the audience–which was about whether the BIU had too much power under a PLP government–and the first thing he says is that the OBA supports the collective bargaining process.
Should an election be called OBA will NOT be hetting my vote!!!
getting sorry
I prefer facts, not emotion and ‘plantation’ settiments…..FACT IS WE’RE IN DEEP SHTE AND NEED TO PULL OURSELVES OUT……If the captain of the ship you’re sailing on repetively damages the boat through negligence or otherwise, what would you do?
Didnt Craig Cannonier say before that he was more PLP than UBP? That was when he was in the BDA. Now he is in the OBA, which is really the UBP (as appears by the panel). I am very confused. But so is he it appears.
can someone tell me who the other gentlemen at the front table was?
I saw Allan marshall was the moderator, and I know Bob Richards, Patricia Gordon Pamplin, Grant Gibbons and Craig Cannonier. But there is another man sitting between Cannonier and Gibbons.
He was Miguel DaPonte, a young Bermudian who works at BF&M as a VP and is responsible for managing their pension portfolio. He sits on Richards’s shadow finance board, and is typical of the new people who have committed to help the OBA put Bermuda first and get us all out of this mess.
Is Daponte the same person that snaked a highly education woman out of her JOB?
I have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you? Are you making an allegation or do you have facts that the public should know? These kinds of wild insinuations don’t really advance your cause.
Can you imagine if we had the best and brightest from both political entities and from Bermuda as a whole, working for the betterment of Bermuda? People, wake up!! all our problems are as a result of “Party Politics” We as a Micro economy, cannot any longer divide ourselves down the middle, oppose each other, then wonder where are we going wrong.
I don’t care what any of these politicians has to say, as long as we continue to be divided along party lines which by default, put party before country, we will never go forward. It is not good enough to say, that if we don’t perform, just vote us out in five years. This is too convenient for folks who just want to get in there for one term, take what they can get, then leave.
We can do better, weather or not we deserve better is up for debate, but we can surly do better. As it stands now, we seems to think that Party politics is the only way. That’s because for the most part, we are not aware that there are other and better alternatives.
Spot on FreeThink.
Well said, well said.
As long as Bermudians continue to accept voting for the “lesser of two evils” the extent of our political involvement then we get exactly what we deserve.
We need to elevate our minds and no longer accept the antics of politicians (from either party) who are more concerned with getting theirs than anything else…
Change is needed. It didn’t come in the form of the PLP and it won’t come from the OBA. True change must come from the mindset of the voters who first concern ourselves with fixing this broken political system we have inherited.
So who is volunteering to run as an Independent? That is also what it will take. I’ve said it before – I’d like to find about 20 or so people who are courageous enough, who care enough for this island and its future to take on the task. Who’s up for it??
Free Thinker….I am on my feet, clapping loudly because what you have said is absolutely spot on. Historically in Bermuda, well ever since the advent of party politics, the party that wins the seat of the Government is the one who does the best job of dividing the country. The UBP did it based on economic class and the PLP did it based on race. Both methods are unacceptable and the only way to get Bermudians working together for the better of Bermuda is to remove party politics.
Finally a blogger I can relate to.
NO MORE PARTY POLITICS
It makes no sense on an island this small. Party politics have destroyed our generation and I don’t want it for my children.
Let’s get it together Free Thinker and drum up the independents, they I can vote for.
Can’t vote PLP, can’t trust OBA won’t vote OBA, won’t vote PLP
@ Free Thinker, I agree with you !00%.We should do away with party politics, and pick the candidates who will get the job done, and if they do for the people and the betterment for all then we have the power to vote them out.At present the only and the only time you have any power is the few seconds you step into that little cube to place your vote…all of 10 seconds.
NO MORE PARTY POLITICS!!!
OOPS GRAMMAR ERROR!!! i meant if they do not do for the people or betterment.
So whats the answer. Independents?
We saw how that played out in the 40-50′s. Then the PLP wanted more control via gathering Independents into a party.
Parties work great but must be held accountable just as an Independent.
Disolved Parliament and Britain takes control until such time as the Constitution is changed, or even prior to that by the two parties.
It’s a racial thing, spawned by certains for payback. Irony is, they got paid and reality is knowone has our backs.
All that glitters is not gold but guess what…..Beyonce is comming………………..
In the 40s and 50s although they were’nt called parties, we had groups of people who had similar mind sets, not least of which being to keep black people from gaining power or parity. Please know this is not playing the race card, but the reality of that time.
We are in a different place and time, at least in my view, although there are some who do not see any differences. I believe party politics served its purpose and that it is time for something completely different.
I understand the Guernsey Isles would be a good example of what I’d like to see here.
The isles of Man also have a system we could modify to our liken
“Most Manx politicians stand for election as independents rather than as representatives of political parties. Though political parties do exist, their influence is not nearly as strong as is the case in the United Kingdom. Consequently, much Manx legislation develops through consensus among the members of Tynwald, which contrasts with the much more adversarial nature of the UK parliament”
The adversarial nature or Party Politics is why we cannot move forward. Below is a snap shot of their system. You can see where the independents and their representatives, far out number the parties and their voters. This is the Bermuda we should strive for.
Parties Votes % Seats
Liberal Vannin 7,323 14.2 2
Manx Labour Party 2,561 5.0 1
Independents 41,608 80.8 21
Total 51,492 24
The columns did not post the way they were align.
Basically Independents make up 41,608 of voters or 82% with 21 seats.
The liberal Vannin Party has 7,323 supporters or 14.2% with 2 seats.
The Manx Labour Party has 2,561 supporters or 5% with 1 seat
What happened in the 40s and 50s had no accountability enshrined in it. It was just a bunch of guys looking out for themselves and their friends. We have come a long way since then. It’s not ok to think that we are stuck with “Party politics” and cannot do better.
Party politics only serve to benefit special interest and that’s we see play out with the power the BIU and the churches have under the PLP and under the UBP prosperity was for the most part onesided.
Whenever you get some bright and honest person that joins a party, thinking that they can effect change from the inside, the get a rude awakening, that says, you have to toe the party line. Now tell me, how can this be right.
So to answer your question, yes we need independents. People who are nominated by their constituencies, with a clear mandate to represent us and if you don’t perform, you are recalled. The logistics of such a system would have to be worked out so it can be effective. But if we have people who are there to do a job and are not guaranteed five years but are there as long as they are performing, we will have a better Bermuda.
So you don’t like what the PLP are doing and you are wondering, how is it that SOME of their supporters can’t see their folly and just vote them out and replace them with the Party that you would prefer to see run Bermuda. The PLP supporters would ask the question, why can’t the opposition supporters able to see, that as long as they have are supported by 90+ % of white Bermuda that something is inherently wrong with that, because no where in the world do you find that many people of one race thinking alike.
Both these scenarios are wrong and are a result of polarization. Polarization is rampant in every jurisdiction that have a party system. Do you think we can’t change that, simply because everyone else is doing it. I say it can be changed but only if that’s what the people want.
We tend to want the benefits of a proper system and at the same time, keep this broken and failed system that we have. well it doesn’t work that way. We can only reap what we sow. So if we want progress, we have to implement a progressive system of government. Party Politics has failed miserably in this regard. So all party supporters, need to stop kidding themselves, in thinking that it will be better, once my party is in power. Sorry, it ain’t going to happen. like that
This is where the problem lies with the opposition, all they ever do is spend time down playing the PLP ans never put a viable alternative on the table. They talk so much about the PLP that you guys don’t even notice that they say nothing as far as what they would do to make things better. I thought a town hall was about putting your plan to the public on the issues. Can they do that for once?
You don’t see the PLP spending 95% of their town halls talking about the OBA. Let’s see the OBA speak on their plans moving forward. All this blah blah about the PLP this and the Minister that serves no purpose but to feed the people a false hope that you have a better plan without having to show one..
Step up to the plate OBA and say something of substance.
To be fair, there has been no election called at this point. On that basis they only really need to talk in vague terms and hold the existing government to account. All opposition parties should do this. It ias their job to question and criticise the government.
I would expect detail in a manifesto.
Truth be Told your talking crap.
Anyone with a sane mind knows the reasons why the OBA are not blasting away. All you want is a slip up or a mandate so the PLP can carry that line to the next election when THEY CALL IT. Get real
Your propaganda can be seen through a hundred year old shard of glass. No microscope needed.
As far as I am concerned, you want the Bermuda? Take it and eat the Longtails because that is all that will be left and a few suckrocks…..OOOPS….thats what is causing it………………………
Terry,
Your point is very well taken but only again highlights the faults of party politics. Is the goal of the OBA to make Bermuda a better place for all or is it to get elected? If it is about getting elected, it is what it is. If, however, it is about making Bermuda a better place for all and it has the solutions, as it continues to claim, than it should not matter who the Government is, the focus should simply be to ensure its solutions are implemented.
This also highlights why I have no time for any of the political parties because their focus first and foremost is to hold the seat of Government and how they can accomplish that goal, it is NOT about bettering the country.
I would much prefer to see a move back towards independent members with a recall vote so that if one is not performing the electorate would have the option of calling him/her back to the polls. I believe constituencies for Parliament seats should be removed also so that the representatives are elected by the entire electorate (National Representatives), which means each elected person is responsible to the entire island. Constituency responsibility would rest with separately elected Parish Councils, in a constituency by constituency vote. The Parish Council would address colloquial issues with Parliamentarians.
As Free Thinker has stated the finer details can be worked out.
Just reading the few posts on this topic reflects how divide Bermudians are. That needs to change and we should be debating not over political parties but over the policies that would best serve Bermuda and Bermudians.
Guilden Gilbert, you must mean parochial, not colloquial.
Thank you for the video Bernews.
How do we hold them accountable? By voting them out? So that the next party comes in and nothing changes, ( as we have seen) the ol yo- yo effect.politriks has to stop.i don”t want to hear grandstanding anymore, I want ACTION and listening to what i listened to last night was nothing but Grandstanding.Bob Richards gave no concrete answers as to how to get Bermuda back working. Mrs. Pamplin speaking on the tourism industry gave no concrete solutions.
it was like being a judge at dancing with the NON STARS (5) Not impressed by eithet party at this time.I still sit on the fence.
Good thing you don’t have a Phd. “Phi”……………………………
@ Sandgrownan and Terry, give it a rest this is. The advertisement for the OBA’s Town Hall:
“Let’s Get Bermuda Working Again,” at St. Mary’s Church Hall in Warwick. Panelists are Bob Richards, Patricia Gordon-Pam plin and Grant Gibbons –we will discuss the OBA’s plans to grow jobs, reduce debt and make the economy work for all Bermudians ”
When did they do this? Not at this town hall, all they did was spit the same old rhetoric about the PLP.
If the OBA truly is a different party from the UBP then they need to show what they are about because as it stands now they have no record to go on. You think the people of Bermuda should elect them just because they can make a big fuss about everything the PLP does? The people did answers and to see what direction they want to take us in.
The PLP does not need to steal their plan and it would be foolish for the PLP to take their plan and try to present it as their own after the OBA has already put it forward. The people are not stupid and would pick up on that fast so that argument is weak.
If you are going to hold a Town Hall to discuss your plans then you need to do just that. Criticising someone else while offering no other solution is sad, weak and pathetic.
Give the people a reason to even consider voting for you. You are a new party (supposedly) so you have to work double hard to establish yourself as a viable alternative. So far the OBA has yet to do this.
Present possible solutions not childish rhetoric. The OBA MP’s were elected to do the work of the people that work does not consist of down playing the PLP, their job is to hold the Government accountable while also bringing solutions to the table on behalf of the people they were elected to represent.
We are all in this together and its time the OBA start acting like it.
Remember when you point your finger at someone there are three more pointing back at you.
This coming from a guy who posts under multiple names. Listen they put forth ideas in the town hall meeting you just choose to hear what they said about your masters so you missed them. You and I know you would step up for your party no matter the issue or lack of discussion on the issue anyway. You forgot that in the last general election the UBP put out a platform and days later a PLP platform came out one upping almost everything in the UBPs platform and then blasting the UBP for wanting to give 8000 people Bermuda status. This later on was admitted by the PLP to be a false figure and the true figure was something like 1,500 a much less than what they said to the public. Guess you don’t have anything to say about that rub to the public by you party uh? Want to say I’m lying a quick look at the two platforms from the 2007 election would clear that up. Do you deny it?
LOL oh right PLP (Government) election strategies aren’t any of my business even if it is a lie. LOLOLOLOL
LOL I have already proven that you are a lier on a previous story I don’t have to say it you have shown it yourself. I post as Truth be Told or my real name and I have a right to. Whats funny is your shallow one sided thinking, you attack me for using a pin name while under a pin name yourself therefore also proving me right that you are a hypocrite.
Where are the ideas they put forth? I dont even see them in the quotes on the story so I guess I’m not the only one who didn’t hear them.
You are incorrect the PLP platform was already off the presses when the UBP put theirs out. You think the PLP put together that platform book in a matter of days? Doesn’t even sound logical. You are right about one thing the PLP platform one upped almost everything in the UBP’s hence the result of the election. The PLP had a better vison then the UBP.
You are fake and resort to giving false information to support your argument. All one has to do is read our last debate to see which one of us fell short on facts. You can’t take back what you already posted.
LOL= lies oh lies
“Where are the ideas they put forth?” You likely won’t hear any new ideas from the OBA until the Cog call an election. That’s when they’ll introduce their platform.
“The PLP does not need to steal their plan”.
More spin.
As for giving it a rest the irony in that statement is like Noah saying….”Look, wonder who put that mountain under my Ark”.
Go back to Alaska Hall and ask your people for the “truth to be told”.
Then come back, or maybe you just had to deceive us again. Your words, not OBA/BDA/UBP…..
Tell us why you had to deceive us, the purpose and what you thought the outcome would be.
Tell you what. Call the Brown Darrell Clinic.
It’s cool with me. Once the companies leave along with people that are fed up, you can have it.
You can turn Front Street into a gambling casino and a freeport but the people won’t be able to adjust to being friendly. We have been in the shakles of the PLP too long.
Free at last, Free at last, thank American Airlines I am free at last.
clap clap clap Terry you actually used real words in a post.
To bad its still senseless rubbish.
No Party Politics is best for Bermuda. Party Politics separated us and keep us separated. Now let see how many OBA members will rush to join up because many BDA members, I for one, will NOT join OBA because they are the same players.
Change is in the air, I can smell it. I think we have a good thing going here. I can see a lot more people, are freeing themselves from this mental slavery called “Party Politics” As people get more disenfranchised with the Party System, the idea of an Independent based system, with an emphasis on accountability, will become more appealing. However, we have a long ways to go before enough of us warm up to the idea, that we can actually do better than this constant back and forth.
As it stands now, too much us still think, that this is all there is and we have to choose the better of both evils. I think in about 10 to 15 years, we would have enough awareness to pull this off. I would prefer to see us get to that stage in no more than 5 years because, at this rate, we may have nothing left, with which to work with. Well it is what it is, the ball is in our court.
just read Nalton Brangman’s post – He’s upset that we are blogging and were not at the meeting.
He also stated that the new stream is FB and email. We saw the stream on Bernews listed above, in this day an age we don’t have to attend to see and hear what is going on. Several of us that don’t support parties are friends of the party on facebook to keep abreast of what they are saying and doing.
Believe me, we still don’t trust a word from the OBA, don’t want party politics to continue.
Free thinker and others, you nearly brought tears to my eyes with a message that I have been committed to reaching the public with for years. I do not understand why most of Bermuda insist on being ping pong balls tossed between these two evil enitities. The wretched dismal good for nothing PLP, simply capitalized on the UBP framework, and advanced the module, thereby failing the people miserably. This OBA, is nothing more than a renamed UBP. I and anyone else would be foolish to think that they will save the island. They are pushing a campaign promising to fix all the present ills, but one huge unanswerable question comes to mind: if the same people couldn’t fix these problems (nd indeed laid the basis for the backslide), why should I trust them to do so now?? If they could fix them now, it would certainly mean that the ability was always there, so of course they can’t be trusted. Original thinker, letks take the concept further, and change the entire process. I am proposing that we abandon the current system and redesign. I am envisioning a Country Council, where the members are DRAFTED (much like the jury system) and given a BASIC salary (seeing as most politicians for years have had high paying private sector jobs in tadem to their huge ministerial salaries) we could even simply match the drafted person’s current salary, provided of course that they are employed.if unemployed a basic wage will surely be a bonus and / or a jump start to that person’s life. It is an offence not to register on the electoral roll, so we of course will have no problem having a pool of candidates.Also, this way Bermuda can truly be self governed, and the electorate can have a direct hand in their government. The Country Council, can be given a mandate that would be an extension of the constitution, thus guaranteed to Bermudians. It’s ministers would be bound to performance by legal standards and nonperformance/ misdeeds would be rewarded with civil proceedingsas well as a degree of criminal (corruption (I.E. Theft of public funds would amount to treason and the relevant criminal charges). This would protect us from the shenanigans we hve experienced from both parties. The public love Town Hall meetings, so ideas, proposals, and the like could be presented Town Hall style, and via Govt’ media, plus social networking. It is absolutely amazing how a present politican can reach you virtually everywhere when he wants your vote, yet, when it comes to decision making, law ammendments etc. You somehow cannot get near them. Every law change and ammendment should be done via referendum. I am sick of law ammendments with hidden agendas being pushed through, for self serving interests (e.g. Perincheif’s ammendment to take people’s assets without evidence). Under a very neutral Country Council, we will be rid of self seving politicians, corrupt influences, strategic alliances, and in fighting. Governance will be a DUTY, shared among the electorate for fixed terms, thus not taxing anyone person for prolonged periods. Mandates and guidelines would be clear, concise, established and not changed to suit personal/ business ambitions. Governance is called “public” office, so it is high time we stopped treating it like an agency/ private issue as is done in party politics. Under a drafted Country Council we will no longer have to vote, and therefore as a registered electorate, we all would have a voice, and an equal voice at that ( for the very first time in history).This system is very similar to how many cities in other countries are run (of course with a few variantions to suit the purpose). Bermuda is smaller than many of them. Now a lot of people may try and brand what I am saying as rebellion, or even question the legality of it, but plain and simply put, Bermuda is not a country. It is an island territory, of another larger country (U.K.), which has given us the authority to self govern (make and maintain our own system of governance). Therefore, if the electorate felt that they wanted to switch styles, then they could simply do so. A Country Council would not usurped the U.K.’s sovereignity, it would infact enhnce it. As for the current government system? The way to abandon them would be to come together, and complete our blueprint for our neutral Country Council,and then each member of the public tender a letter or resignation to the house of Parliament from their current government. We will also sign on to our new Country Council. And present it as the replacement governing system to the sovereign state (U.K.) which would render the present system dissolved once the sovereign assent is given. I have provided an outline, as well as. Method. Looking for any interests or support. Note that I am serious enough not to hide behind a pen name. Reach me on hustling@hotmail.com or inbox me on the facebook page bearing my name.
Carlton your heart is in the right place but I think that your suggestion has already been tried: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Citizens%27_Council
IslandDreams,.. you are grasping at straws.Your ink provided is nothing like my suggestion, in fact your link is the actual father of party politics. Don’t just pick a word out of a post and attempt to link a concept that is totally abstract simply because it has a similar name.If there was a shred of relativity between the two concepts (simply because of the word council), then it would be equally correct to associate party politics with a bunch of rowdy, destructive, beer drinking teenagers to reacting to loud music!
The term ‘Repackaged Ewart Brown’ party is inappropriate in the context in which you are applying it. Why? Because for several reasons: (1) the party still has its same members (2) there is no movement from one party to another within one year, (3) It is not made up of a coalition (party) 3 different parties, which person belonged to at least two/three (4) there is no break up the party and rejoining of another party again over and over again.
That the differences and so the title of “Repackaged Opposition UBP/OBP” does fit well. So do not attempt to use the term in the wrong context, only if referring to your party. Also do not steal words from Hon. Premier Cox….since you dislike the PLP so much!!