OK, now wait- is this another pivot? I just want to make sure I’m following correctly.

You know, like the Chris Furbert “I’m not giving you an ultimatum which you can take to the bank” pivot?

Or the one about not demanding reparations for alleged injustices at Tuckers Town pivot?

It sounds like a, “Oh, we’ve always been in favor of this, but we were just upset with how slowly its gone. Please ignore all our silly talk about red lines in Parliament or establishing a process for PRCs” kind of pivot.

I think its another pivot.

It sounds like another pivot.

EW

The PLP, on the other hand, wants to suspend and waive the legal and constitutional rights of Bermudians and people of Bermuda. On a whim, they want to illegally take away rights.

The OBA had every opportunity to state the Government’s position, but did so at a snail’s pace, therefore they are equally to blame.

Now the Government wants to be transparent? Now, w want to pick up the pace in an academical sanitized manner?

If this is any indication of how slowly the Government acts or reactions during challenging times, the crisis is within the Goveernment.

Need Peace – the fact is, the PRC’ in question are already here so this won’t increase the number of residents on the island.

[I say reportedly without knowing the full content of the letter presented].

Even if the “new” PRCs wanted to they couldn’t apply because the law stipulates that they had to be here before 1989!

Please stop talking about this like there’s some mythical flood of immigrants coming to Bermuda to take all of our jobs and buy up all the land. These people are already here and are unlikely to make sweeping changes to their current lifestyle.

The way it’s spelled out is that the law stands and no amount of stomping one’s feet, wailing or gnashing of teeth is going to change it. It’s an oversight, both parties put forth flawed legislation (as if that’s NEVER happened before anywhere else in the world).

How about all those who paid the license fees as spouses of Bermdians and were forced to either license or sell their property? Did any of them get their fees back retroactively when the law changed?

Sometimes it’s a b*** living in a first world country where the government is actually accountable to the law of the land, more expecially the constitution of the territory. Of course government is also accountable to the people but still cannot be above the law. Loophole / backdoor / legitimate pathway to citizenship – it’s still the law.

Your comment that the Chief Justice said that the piece of legislation was ambiguous is correct. Well drafted legislation is not ambiguous; well drafted legislation is clear. And when drafting important legislation that will affect the lives of both Bermudians and PRC holders, it is simply negligent to fail to make the legislation clear. (In fact, the Chief Justice showed how the legislation could have been written without ambiguity.)

Your recollection that the “PLP called for the “loophole” to be amended and granting PRC status suspended” is correct. That is exactly what I addressed in the article when I quoted MP Walton Brown, word for word. And that is exactly what I have said is the problem because it would have no legal effect this late in the game.

The only chance of closing the “loophole” was in August 2012 when the first application for status was submitted to the Department of Immigration. We know the PLP Government knew of the problem at that time because counsel for the applicant pointed out the operative sections of the Immigration Act and Bermuda Constitution to the Government.

But the PLP Government chose not to amend the legislation at that time, most likely because an election was looming and the public admission that the PLP Government had screwed up the entire PRC issue would have surely cost them the election. (They lost the election anyway, but consider how many more PLP supporters would have not voted if they knew the PLP had screwed up the PRC issue.)

In other words, the PLP put their own re-election bid ahead of the interests of those Bermudians who feel they will suffer as a result of PRC holders obtaining status.

It is now too late to amend the legislation because any eligible PRC holder who wants status has likely already applied. Further, once a PRC holder becomes a British Overseas Territory “Belonger” it is likely against the Constitution to enact legislation that takes away his right to apply for status. So the call by the PLP to amend the legislation is a waste of time and therefore nothing more than theatrics.

Further, the call for the Minister to suspend the granting of status is, legally speaking, also a waste of time because, as the Chief Justice made clear, the Minister does not have the power to suspend the granting of status where a person complies with all parts of the legislation, which is the case under the PLP drafted legislation. Further, if the Minister tries to suspend those rights, the PRC holders can simply go back to court for an order forcing the Minister to grant those rights.

In other words, I have not (as you falsely claim) “chopped up the words of Mr. Walton Brown to attempt to make a case.” I have quoted him directly and then shown how both his stated rationale for his position and his suggested solutions are all based on flawed legal reasoning that will do absolutely nothing to change the legal right of PRC holders to obtain status.

Cool. Gone to get a life. Enjoy.

No wrong doing to defend. Law is the law. Just because your Party celebrated our Constitution being trampled on(re: Uighyurs decision) doesn’t mean that all Parties should not adhere to laws that they do not like.

Also, anyone can apply for Canadian citizenship, and owners of a Canadian permanent resident card have a higher chance of a successful application. Canada welcomes diversity.

Why does no-one on the anti OBA side get this. This is the law, under our constitution it cannot be retroactive removed. All those who put their applications in after the ruling are going to get status even if you did the PLP’s “ammendment”. Otherwise it is a breach of the consitution. Please educate yourself before coing to such extreme views. Listen, read understand and then I will have more respect for your position. At the moment you come to your decision first.

Alvin, if someone has legally lived in Canada for four years they have a right to apply for citizenship. The qualifications are pretty straight forward (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=355&t=5)

Or do you believe that the government should ignore the law and find themselves subject to lawsuits by every PRC that has applied? Lawsuits that they will lose by the way.

The Waterfront Lease was a totally different matter and didn’t raise the Constitutional issues this does.

But one thing you seem to be missing. Regardless of what sort of immigration reform is enacted the existing PRC’s who have applied under 20B have to be granted status and there is nothing that the government or anyone else can do about it.

Any reform will only apply to other individuals that may decide to apply – those that came here after the 1989 cutoff date. If anything, comprehensive immigration reform is only going to produce another pool of potential applicants [but it will NOT eliminate the existing ones].

As Mr Comeau so elegantly states they have no choice. None whatsoever. The law is the law and they can’t change it retroactively so anyone that has already applied will have to be given status.

And they did everything in their power to block this. They turned down the original application, the fought it in court and when the Supreme Court ruled against them they filed an appeal while they sought legal advice regarding the outcome of that appeal. A highly respected Queen’s Council told them that they’d lose and the Privy Council would uphold Kawaley’s ruling. Only then did they stop fighting – after all, the only thing they could accomplish by proceeding with the appeal was to spend a few million dollars of taxpayer money in order to end up in exactly the situation they’re in now.

They passed it quite deliberately so that they could give status to the people they wanted – but it blew up in their faces.

And now they’ve alienated these future voters so they will never ever vote PLP. There is a lesson to be learned here – but PLP won’t learn it – they simply aren’t smart enough – and it is easier to blame OBA.

Choir: “AMEN!”

Exactly, EVERYONE knows the PLP enacted it and EVERYONE knows the that OBA are exploiting it for votes. They can institute immigration policy reform across the board and they should. But will they? HIGHLY unlikely.

The OBA and the PLP are asking people to once again draw battle lines determined by race and class and now status. Battle lines that the OBA said that they wanted to erase so that ONE BERMUDA could emerge. ONE BERMUDA that must be this “another world” EVERYONE isn’t talking about.

Thank you. The issue is one of power and disempowerment.

It is dishonorable to sit back and allow yet another rift to form within our community as if there aren’t too many already. Anyone who says we don’t vote along racial lines must be of the “colorblind” variety. There are a lot of young people, myself included who thought our vote for the OBA would be a vote for something different. Something outside of the check boxes or black or white. After this first year I don’t believe that the OBA are any different from the PLP or UBP. All parties can fall under the banner of COWARDICE.

ONE BERMUDA! Who’s Bermuda will this Bermuda be? If they wanted to unify us this is not the route.

Comeau,

I lost a lot of respect for you just now. I was disheartened to hear that you were leaving, you do have so much to offer the world.

But you left because you can leave and you will as long you can. Apply for status. Give up your current status – your exit plan/plan b. Let your daughter give up hers too and then maybe we could trust that you are more than self serving. Otherwise how are you more than an opportunist jumping from ship to ship to avoid or enjoy.

There should be comprehensive immigration reform – you know this. Until I see your detailed letter/essay/opinion on why there can be and should be immigration reform I will think of you as I do now…as someone who doesn’t understand why the black community is worried about legislated disempowerment*.

This is about the right to vote! The right to know your vote means something. I feel my vote means nothing now and will mean even less tomorrow. I don’t want to vote for black or white but it seems as though that is all we ever end up getting to choose. How many others feel this way? How many more will be pushed to the fringe?

So disappointed.

*dis·em·pow·er
verb \ˌdis-im-ˈpau̇(-ə)r\

: to cause (a person or a group of people) to be less likely than others to succeed : to prevent (a person or group) from having power, authority, or influence

No amount of explaining the workings of law will convince people such as yourself. My suggestion is for you to talk with Kim Wilson or Marc Daniels who are lawyers. Do you see them jumping up and down and joining in the call for marches and demonstrations? No because they understand the law as it is written, not what the intent might have been.

As for your apparent view that gospel are those legal opinions supporting what is without ANY doubt a controversial path to status, I can assure you most people still have the natural ability to distinguish right & wrong from legal & illegal.

But again, I insist, continue having fun with your silly attempts to legitimize the wrong-doing (through inaction) of this government.

Take notice of the increasing number of folks that are seeing the OBA for what they are and who they represent. Take notice of the increasing number of folks calling BS on the colorful ways the OBA and its supporters attempt to legitimize the party’s wide array of tactics for empowering non Bermudians.