Govt & Chairman On ‘Unfortunate’ PAC Meeting
[Updated] “Unfortunate and nothing short of grandstanding”, is how Government this evening [Feb 12] described today’s Parliamentary Action Committee [PAC] meeting and what they said were the “subsequent sentiments and comments emanating from the PAC Opposition members.”
Earlier today, the PAC held a meeting where they were due to hear from Economic Development Permanent Secretary William Francis on the public funding for the America’s Cup, however Mr Francis did not attend, with PAC Chairman David Burt saying he was told that Mr Francis was unwell and working from home today.
This followed after a series of exchanges which saw the PAC Chairman summon the Permanent Secretary, the Attorney-General say the Chairman does not have that authority, and the Speaker reply that the committee is empowered to act and inviting the Government to allow its officers to appear before the PAC as summonsed.
Today’s meeting by the bipartisan committee centered around these communications, and a timeline summary of the correspondence, as well as the documentation, can be read here.
In a statement this evening, a Government spokesperson said, “Expressing disappointment in Chairman David Burt’s comments, Government moved to clarify its stance regarding today’s PAC meeting, particularly as it relates to the criticism of perceived government interference.
“Firstly the PAC normally examines audited accounts which have been tabled in the House or reports of the Auditor General which have been tabled in the House – however neither is the case here.
“Secondly the Chairman has spoken of funds appropriated for the America’s Cup, however that has not happened yet. It’s simply unprecedented that the PAC would look into accounts before the funds have actually been allocated by Parliament. This is pure political grandstanding by the Shadow Finance member.
“To ensure public clarity, to date the ACBDA has received no transfer of funds. The public should be advised that funds will be properly allocated and fully debated as is the normal custom and practice in the upcoming 2015/16 National Budget debate, and where there will be ample opportunity for the Opposition members in the House and Senate to ask questions and review the numbers.
”As an added note, the Government finds it quite puzzling that this matter has catapulted ahead of the Port Royal Auditor’s report. The public should be reminded that there have been no public hearings yet regarding the Port Royal Report, and that comprehensive, very detailed document [PDF] was tabled several months ago.
“Also as an important note, it is highly unusual for the PAC to issue a witness summons, particularly without the authorisation of the full PAC membership.
“Finally, the America’s Cup agreements are still being negotiated and are at a very sensitive stage. With that in mind, the convening of today’s meeting was entirely premature.
“To be clear no one is trying to hinder or impede the PAC from doing it’s job. In fact, the Government supports the overall mandate of the PAC, but as it relates to this particular matter, it is the Government’s view that the appropriate protocols should be followed.”
Update 12.57am: In response, PAC Chairman David Burt said: “The comments from the Government this evening, although expected, are unfortunate. I would like to remind the Government and the public that the Public Accounts Committee is a bi-partisan committee of Parliament comprised of four OBA Members and three PLP Members.
“This committee unanimously agreed to hold a public meeting to discuss the public funding for the America’s Cup and agreed to question the Permanent Secretary for Economic Development.
“What is truly puzzling is why the Government issued a press release to state objections to the unanimous decision of the Public Accounts Committee instead of communicating any substantive issues prior to today’s scheduled hearing.
“The correspondence of the past few days is now part of the public record so the public can view for themselves and decide whether there has been interference from the Cabinet in the dealings of the Public Accounts Committee.
“The public can also decide for themselves why a Government that states it is committed to transparency, fought so hard for this hearing to never take place. Is the Government really telling the people of Bermuda that not one penny has been spent from any ministry’s budget on the pursuit of the America’s cup? That is simply unbelievable and begs the question what exactly is the Government hiding?
“Regarding the Government’s reference to the “unusual” issuing of a summons; the Permanent Secretary for Economic Development, under direction of the Secretary to the Cabinet, did not respond to repeated requests to appear in front of the PAC, and did not acknowledge any communications from the Legislature until an official summons was served upon him.
“Regarding the Special Report on Port Royal, the Government should be aware that the PAC deliberated on this matter within two weeks of the report being tabled. Furthermore, the Government is aware the Public Hearings for this report have been scheduled for April.
“The suggestion from a “government spokesman” that the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee, comprised of a majority of OBA members, has pushed aside the Special Auditors Report on the Port Royal Golf Course is ridiculous.
“The unanimous decision of the Public Accounts Committee to hold a hearing on the America’s Cup is supported by the Speaker of the House and the Office of the Auditor General.
“The Government can speak about “unprecedented”, however, the Public Accounts Committee has decided not only to look at items that took place 5 years ago, but also current items to ensure the next PAC isn’t examining today’s issues 5 years from now. That is standard practice around the world, and it is certainly time that it becomes the standard practice in Bermuda.
“In closing, I would hope that to promote good governance, the Government would find it more productive to answer questions posed rather than spend countless hours and energy attempting to prevent questions from being asked.
“The Public Accounts Committee ended today’s meeting with yet another unanimous decision to hear testimony from the Permanent Secretary for Economic Development in April. It is my hope that by then, the Government will have a change of heart, and will cease and desist in their attempts to prevent his appearance in front of a standing committee of Parliament.”
Interesting twist
There are 3-4 OBA MPs on the PAC so are they grandstanding against their own party?
Come on Chris, stop playing people – I am sure you know all 4 OBA MP’s were not present for the first unanimous decision
It seems like the PLP say things like the “unanimous” decisions and only later do we get the whole story and find out that it was anything but.
And what information do you have that It wasn’t unanimous. Or do you just think that people are misleading the public. I attended yesterdays meeting and I saw them unanimously decide to hold another hearing in April.
Come on OBA supporters, we had enough of this crap from the PLP, we don’t need you all to fall into the same crap.
Criticise your own Party when they are wrong and the country will be the better for it!
The PLP want govt to fail. They lost the general election, and now they want Bermuda to loose too.
Sorry, I’m missing something, if it was unanimous, that means everyone was in favour of the action!
Why is it that OBA supporters need to defend the OBA even when they are wrong! That is how we got into trouble with the PLP.
Right is right, and this whole refusal to appear stinks. These are my tax dollars!
It was not unanimous. Read the Government’s statement.
What likely happened is that the OBA MPs said that they should look at the America’s Cup as a matter of principle, and Burt ran with this, stretching this authority beyond its limits. I find it hard to believe that they would authorize the Chairman going around hectoring civil servants or calling for commercially sensitive documents.
The Committee should have resolved itself to issue the Summons. Burt cannot side-step the members – the committee is a collective decision-making body. For example, if you were in at the hearing, you would have heard that Burt went to the Governor to draw him inappropriately into this political controversy with members of BOTH sides (including his own party whip) expressing surprise about this course of action.
Though we cannot deny some political motivation. The OBA must be frustrated that David Burt is not looking into the Port Royal fiasco with the same level of gusto.
Burt showing once again that he doesn’t understand the financial system. PLP should be ashamed they picked him.
Chris,
Whats are your feelings on Port Royal? Or ProActive / Berkeley ? Or Bermuda Emissions Process? How do you feel about $800M unaccounted for in 14 years?
What are your thoughts on the way the Bda Cwement Co (a well run company) was stripped of ownership and given to friends! Are you bothered by the Bda Housing Scandal, or have you conveniently forgotten about that?
On your mark get set go circle the wagon
Seems like the OBA Blogger(s) have their marching orders and will be out in full force today. Look forward to hearing the following:
1) Port Royal
2) Burt can’t do that
3) Port Royal
4) The PLP are evil
What you will not hear from them is a cogent response to: http://cloudfront.bernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Items-Read-at-Feb-5th-PAC-Meeting_Redacted.pdf where the Speaker of the House laid out the fact that the PAC is on sound ground.
I do wish that instead of defending our party when they are clearly wrong, we will realise that we work better when we as a country don’t accept bad behaviour from anyone.
no.
Trust in the OBA for me is slowly going. I thought the government was going to really be able change and do politics different based upon their election platform.
However, I see government moving away from those things they indicated were important such as Accountability and Transparency pre-election this is not a smart move Mr. Dunkley and it is pushing more folks in another direction.
Let PAC do their job. Did you forget the committee is made up of OBA MPS and PLP MPS. I am only left to believe that in failing to let PAC do their job the OBA must be hiding something and that your platform was merely to get votes only. Looks like there was no real seriousness in regards to real Accountability and Transparency.
Clearly you didn’t read the article.
Why should the OBA have to do what Burt wants? They’ve explained here that no funds have even been given towards the AC yet. Didn’t the PLP also vote for these funds to be allocated to the AC? Oh come on!
This hearing is premature as they’ve said – the process is still on-going so why does Burt think it needs to be debated?
And why has he skipped over the Port Royal fiasco? Is it because it’s a PLP created problem? You lot need to stop thinking there some dark mystery afoot. The PLP creates this drama and they use to their advantage very well.
Did you miss the part that this is a bipartisan committee, and they all decided to hold this hearing?
Take personalities out of it. Right is right!
At least its better than the PLP of the old Govt. They pretended like everything was always fine and NEVER in their 14 years ever questioned themselves or challenged the party.
Not all OBA members were present at the meeting were they had a vote to summons the PS so Burt’s interpretation of “unanimous” is flawed at best!
Everything will be in the budget debate in a few days. This was just Burt trying to make sure nobody looked at the Port Royal scandal.
Sally/ betty/rhonda/ kunta …etc… Stop your noise!!! Once again your when the truth comes out, there is a totally different side of the story isn’t it?? As the OBA says, none of the AC stuff has been debated in Parliament yet??? Burt once again grandstanding??? May I suggest while he is grandstanding, let’s FINISH the Port Royal investigation first!!! Burt has clearly shown his immaturity ( 37 yrs old ) he is like a child in a candy store chasing after everything!!! May I also suggest while his he standing on his soap box, to also come clean about swizzle gate??. Why is it, whenever the police investigate anything to do with a politician nothing comes out of it??. I would bet my last$$$ that if that was me doing the swizzle thing, I would have been before the courts on a nano second and dealt with harshly, and everyone else who is not a politician as well!!! We need to demand better from the police/prosecutions and this includes ALL ongoing investigations that we have heard nothing about since first reported!!!!
Seriously! Learn your laws. The PAC do not have wait for an item to be debated in the HoA. The OBA are once again trying to deceive the people of Bermuda. No appearance at PAC, no referendum, no jobs for Bermudians, the list goes on!#letsnotforget.
I’m a little confused…………..can you help me understand.
If it was a unanimous decision, wouldn’t that mean that everyone was in attendance? Now, if there is grandstanding, wouldn’t that mean that both parties are doing so as the PAC is made up of both and wouldn’t the chairman speak for all of them? Also, if the Speaker of the House says that the PAC does have the right to question whats going on, doesn’t that mean the PAC has every right to do so? Remember, the PAC is made up of more OBA members than PLP members. I’m just saying.
Additionally, don’t get it twisted either as I am in support of questioning the whole Port Royal thing as that did precede this current line of questioning. However, the PAC (both OBA and PLP) has pointed out that they have had several meetings regarding Port Royal and will have some more. That tells me that there are a lot of stones being turned over that are confusing and need further investigating. In contrast to that, I think the PAC is doing some proactive stuff in looking into both past and current issues. Isn’t that how it should be? I mean, wouldn’t you do the same so as not to fall behind?? Something that all past governments and related parties have done to date.
I noticed one thing I agree with that you mentioned, “Why is it, whenever the police investigate anything to do with a politician nothing comes out of it??.” I think that applies to both parties because history shows us that both sides have swerved the law and the public.
I really believe the time for arguing is over. It is time we ALL came together and help fix our country instead of trying to find faults in one another. That means that no matter who is in charge of whatever, if there is something fishy or wrong being done, we as residents of this country need to point it out and try to fix it. Am I wrong??
Also, if you or anyone else resorts to name calling to argue a point as a result of my post……then whats the point in having open dialogue?
So meetings about Port Royal are secret, but the moment the PAC chairman sees a chance for political points to be made we get headlines.
Yea, nothing grandstanding about that.
And when the PLP was government the PAC never met, because the PLP members never attended, which meant there was never a quorum.
Burt has conveniently forgotten that little fact, hasn’t he.
…and one of their MPs has not been summoned out of the blue to explain anything in the manner in which Mr. Francis was treated. Which is odd….doncha think?
The PAC met many times under the PAC, don’t you see the reports…..
@ Sally, Trust in the O.B.A/ubp is slowly going, you have a LOT of patience.
How many times does it take for someone to Hoodwink you for you to be convinced.
I’d say it take 14 year
Did you read past the first Line Sally?
Pathetic and Shameful OBA! SMH!
Manufactured controversy at its finest!
Anything to undermine the OBA and lose focus of how poorly the PLP managed this country.
Can we investigate Port Royal, Heritage Wharf and Berkley first?
Sounds like the parable of the turtle and the scorpion.
Did you read the article?
If you add together the overruns on Port Royal, the swimming pool and TCD, you’d pretty much have enough to pay for the America’s Cup.
Mr Burt, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the people all of the time!
You were grandstanding. Can you not treat your PAC responsibilities with the respect they deserve. It is apparent you have bought into the concept that the America’s Cup is only for specific echelons of the community. As shadow Minister of Finance you better than anyone should undestand the dire financial straits Bermuda finds it self in currently. Put it all aside and work for the betterment of the community.
Incidentally Marc,this is strategy, be sure Mr. Burt is nipping at your heels.
Is there not some chronological order in which the PAC addresses matters put to them?
Why is the AC being looked at now when they have other issues like Port Royal to deal with? In fact, all they need to do is call the cops, the auditor general has done the investigation.
This is what happens when an important position is politicised. Burt will never lead the charge against his fellow PLP MPs.
Did you even read the article? Did you see where the committee has already met on Port Royal?
I don’t know why people want to deflect from the OBA refusing to answer questions!
If we keep defending wrong, our country will continue to be in the toilet!
The PAC is not supposed to be a third chamber of government, with veto rights on spending. It is supposed to review accounts.
This is just a lot of empty-headed grandstanding.
Did you?:
The public should be reminded that there have been no public hearings yet regarding the Port Royal Report, and that comprehensive, very detailed document [PDF] was tabled several months ago.
The OBA have sheered their sheeple and are now fully engaged in pulling the the wool over their eyes .
Burt irritates me to no end. He is far too arrogant and premature in his tactics! Frankly, this committee should be made up of persons not affiliated with either party. At the end of the day it will always gall me how the party Bermuda has seen continue to be given the time of day. The PLP are stuck on destruction of Bermuda.
Maybe Mr. Burt (who I’m sure reads these comments) or one of his defenders can help me here. This is taken from the Standing Orders of the House of Assembly:
“(c) The Public Accounts Committee shall have the duty of examining, considering and reporting on:-
(i) the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the Legislature to meet the public expenditure of Bermuda;
(ii) such accounts as may be referred to the Committee by the House; and
(iii) the report of the Auditor for any such accounts.”
Which of the three does the (future) America’s Cup funding fall under?
I think you missed yesterday article have a read.
http://cloudfront.bernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Items-Read-at-Feb-5th-PAC-Meeting_Redacted.pdf
Think its explained pretty clearly. The question is why didn’t the OBA want to answer questions.
Where did the Port Royal money go?
Where did the other $780M go? How did we get to over $2B debt?
Burt, master of deception!! Lets see port royal report public please.
We wouldn’t need many guesses would we.
Burt is playing us all.
My word all of the sheep are out trying to find enough straw to make one bale of hay this morning.
How did it go from the Public Accounts Committee to the Parliamentary Action Committee?
PAC is getting ahead of itself, this meeting should have never happened. First things first, get on with Port Royal and stop beating round the bush !!!!!!!!!!!!