I’m very proudly not in your father’s league.

Taken as part of a body of work, not so much.

“OUR party”?

They’re not MY party. I’m not a member of the OBA.

I know folks are desperate to label me as such, because it’s easier to dismiss me if I was as rabid as they are, but I’m simply not.

Not sure why you’re asking me whether they’re disappointing. It has nothing to do with what I said.

As messy as they are, they allow dissent. Can’t say that for the PLP. Don’t want to appear to be weak now do you?

1. Complaining about travel for Ministers is crazy. If they don’t travel, how can they deliver well the Bermuda message to the markets who need to hear it? If they did NOT travel, we should be concerned.

2. How about another model? Everywhere in the world, students are starting to have to pay more for education. How about a line of credit from a normal banking relationship which has a Government backstop in certain circumstances? The point of education is to enable the student to earn more once educated. If they earn more, they will be able to contribute to the pay down…

I undestand the concerns about the governments spending (OBA/PLP)but unrestricted spending on students that are not performing is not the answer. In fact, I would question the criteria for government awards in gerneral. Shouldn’t they be linked to a need or used to encourage participation in a sector of the workforce that is expanding or underrepresented. Shouldn’t they be encouraged to return to the island with their new found skillset to work for the betterment of the country that supported their academic aspirations.

Maybe a new model is required to support a greater section of the country that wishes to move on to higher education options include:

- Reduced rate government sponsored educational loans, (Maybe some areas like teaching or other critical need areas can have these loans forgiven in exchange for work for government in that discipline over a number of years.)
- Summer work study/ internship programs where a portion of money must be set aside to support educational needs.
- Make all scholarships need based
- Public private partnerships for funding and investment products that allow awards program to be solvent and self sufficient.

Suggesting that individuals are fired because you disagree with their politics or who they support does not help the fact that Bermuda is on financially shaky ground and we all must do what we can to ensure that the services that government supplies in support of the economy and the people remains solvent.

Has the OBA done enough to reign in spending, no. Has the PLP offered resonable alternatives to how to improve the situation, no. Are people sufffering, yes. Is it going to get worse before it gets better, yes. But tough decisions have to be made in the near term to protect the future of all.

I was a recipient of a Government Further Education Award – - 1991 and 1992. I had to apply each year to receive the award. I had applied to the Government Scholarship, but was unsuccessful. In total, the funds I received was $5,250 over those two years. The rest of my university expenses were paid for by my family, friends, godparents, etc.

I graduated from high school with a 3.4 GPA, numerous community service awards, performance art awards, etc. – - so to say that the Government bursary awards (incorrect terminology anyway) or “your tax dollars are being gifted to students for just ‘doing alright’” is very disrespectful to me.

The competition for scholarships in this country is very difficult – - I have been raising my children with the mindset that they will be prepared to compete for scholarships when they graduate from high school. This is the only way they will be ready to deal with it.

For the record, even with my GPA, I was unable to get a Government Scholarship – - that year, it went to a Saltus Grammar student whose parent could afford to send him to college without assistance – - I know this because I know him and his family. He said that he applied because his parents told him.

People – the funds provided by government for post secondary education are vitally important and should be returned to respectable levels.

Q

As per MP Gibbons press release above:-

Bermuda Government Scholarships: which are valued at up to $35,000 for tuition and accommodation for Bermuda’s top scholars, many of whom in recent years have held a GPA of at least 3.9 and above. This scholarship is tenable for four years.

Further Education Awards: which are valued at between $1,500 and $10,000 and awarded to students who are in financial need studying at university, and who have a GPA of 2.0 [70%] and above.

There is no question that our paid politicians need to stick to a budget – you’ll get no argument from me here but this principle needs to be applied across both sides of the House, right?

Don’t tell me we don’t have money to fund financial-need based scholarships while we use taxpayers dollars to pay a political advisor and a speech writer for our Premier a combined total of $220k. We are misusing our limited funds to provide PR for our Premier??

Don’t tell me we don’t have the money when our taxpayers dollars are being used to pay the Tourism Board members $2k PER MEETING.

Don’t tell me we don’t have the money when our taxpayers dollars are being used to fund over $5m in travel expenses for our well-paid politicians. BTW, this amount is $1.6m above the PLP’s travel budget.

Don’t tell me we don’t have the money when our politicians failed to reduce their salaries by the promised 10%.

We have the money; the issue is it’s allocation.

Priorities

Our collective priority MUST be education because if we fail to invest now, there will be devastating long-term costs in the future.

According to the article, Bermuda Govt scholarships used to be available for three years. They are now available for four years.

You say this as a criticism. So the PLP would no issue with money allocated to one cost centre being spent by another cost centre, apparently.

This is part of the problem. The PLP had and has no idea about what it means to budget, plan, and stick to a budget. That’s how we ended up billions in debt.

With that kind of mentality, we are really in trouble. You have to question your party. How long will it take for someone like this to realise that????

No question that our paid officials need to keep on budget – that is across for BOTH sides of the House, right? We MUST deliver stick to our budget going forward.

But don’t tell me we have no money to support financial need based scholarships when we are paying a speech writer and a political advisor for our Premier a combine total of $250k per year. This is basically PR for a politician.

Don’t tell me we have no money while paying the Tourism Board members $2k PER MEETING

Don’t tell me we have no money while our govt spends over $5m on their travel budget which is, by the way, $1.6m more than PLPs was

We have money; its how we opt to allocate it is the issue.

What are our priorities? EDUCATION MUST BE PRIORITY.

But you did not answer the claim that the original scheme was simply not sustainable in the long term. Do you believe that? Or will a cap of $35k, which is a lot of money, allow for more funds to be spent on more students as opposed to the previous regime of spending nearly double that figure ($70k) on a single student. From my perspective allowing more to he spent on more students is a positive change.

Also, despite the claims the fact is that scholarship funding has been reduced (as is the case for every ministry budget) by $241k as opposed to the ‘draconian’ $700k that you an others are passing off as the absolute truth. So where exactly is the other $460k ($700-$240) being allocated as this amount is still being utilised for scholarship funding?

there was a protest and the Government responded. Like I said.

All the Minister did was describe a process. No misinformation has been disseminated to my mind: I’ve fact-checked the relevant budget briefs and the budget book myself. I believe that it is a legitimately worrying consistent reduction in funds, and I hope that the government acknowledges this relevant anxiety, by disseminating public funds in a way that is consistent with a relevant will of the people.

There’s a protest about this, so the Government responds and explains itself and, to you, it’s “an attempt to deflect attention”.

If they hadn’t responded, you’d be denouncing them for ignoring the people of Bermuda.

When someone can’t win with you, why should they continue to engage?

We could start right here…

Don Grearson – $113,480 to write speeches
Charmaine Burgess – $105,765 to organize press conferences
10 Members of tourism board – $200,000
Premier Cannonier travel – $180,515
Min. Crockwell travel – $167,144
Total gov. travel for 2013 – $5,067,000

1. The Bda Gov. Scholarship is based on Academic Excellence only. No matter that the budget, there are a max of 8 (as based on the Bda Gov Scholarship Act) that have to be budgeted for. Once awarded on, as long as you maintain your grades, you will automatically receive funds for up to 4 years.

2. Further Education Awards are given to those who demonstrate grades AND Financial Need. These awards have to be applied for every year and there is no guarantee that if you got one in one year, you will get it again in subsequent years.

3. Based on #1 above, the funds allocated for the scholarship cost centre can only be used on that.

4. Further Education Awards average about $5,000 per award. So in 2012 there was funding for potentially 152 students, in 2013 for 76 students and in 2014 for 8 students. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 the Bda Scholarship cost centre provided for 8 students only.

I hope this clarifies things for you.

Stop trying to make this into some type of conspiracy and making people to be shadowy figures. Where the hell were you when your team was spending the money like it was a running faucet?

There’s no disputing this fact

Have a look at the approved Budget

In the end the purported ‘draconian’ cuts of $800k are just another bunch of lies (that even I fell for) while in the end, according to Sen. Rabain, the Opposition’s gripe is the allocation of monies across cost centers. Lies, damned lies and politicians.

Knowing that the Bda Govt needs to cut its expenditures if we are to avoid financial ruin (we do know that, right?) what cuts to other programs would you propose to facilitate the continued funding of these scholarships at the previously prevailing rates?

Can you be specific, please? Dollar amounts and the Ministries and programs to which the cuts would apply would be tremendously helpful.

I think it would be great that if everyone that opposes cuts announced by the Govt could, in turn, present their slate of funding cuts, detailed by ministry and program with the dollar cuts to each, that they would accept to free up funds to avoid the cuts they decry. In that way, the voters and taxpayers of Bda can truly judge which option is better and which party is proposing the best solutions. It would come in very hand come the next election. We all could have a long track record of competing ideas on which to judge candidates and parties.

Also, are not all scholarships afforded to those that can demonstrate a need for financial assistance? So wouldn’t it be safe to say that the ones who need the help will essentially receive monies no matter the ‘cost center?’

At first I was concerned by the claims that scholarships have been reduced by 80% as is the current narrative on island. But then I realised I needed to dig deeper instead of listening to partisan rhetoric. I guess that’s why I am asking of your opinion on the above, as to avoid the same mistake twice.