Tinee Furbert To Run For PLP Deputy Leader
[Updating] Tinee Furbert is holding a press conference this morning [July 14] to officially announce her candidacy for the position of PLP Deputy Leader. We will have additional coverage later on and in the meantime the live video is below.
Update: She has launched a very comprehensive website for the campaign, which is here: Tineesfurbert.com.
The website states, “Our people are carrying real pressure. Seniors want to age with dignity. Families are stretched. Young people are asking where they fit. Caregivers are doing work that is often unseen. The Party needs a Deputy Leader who is close enough to hear all of this, and disciplined enough to act on it.
“A Deputy Leader in the branches. Strengthening the leadership team. Listening to members, staying connected to communities, and following through. That is the role I am offering to fill. And it is the work I have already been doing.
“This is not a promise. It is what I have already done as Minister, as an MP, as a branch member. The Manifesto below names the work. The people who benefited can confirm it.
“I am offering myself for Deputy Leader to strengthen this team from within. Support the Leader chosen by the Party. Be present in the branches. Keep our message grounded in the lives of the people we serve. That is the role. That is the work. I am ready because I have been doing it.”
Update: Minister Furbert said, “Good morning, everyone. I want to thank you for being here this morning. To my family, my colleagues, my branch, supporters, and members of the media, thank you for taking the time to be present today
“I learned responsibility before I ever held a title.
“I am the eldest of three, and when I was young, there were moments in my home when I had to help care for my sisters. I cooked meals, checked homework, and learned early that when people are depending on you, you do not wait for perfect conditions. You show up, you steady yourself, and you do the work.
“That lesson has stayed with me through every part of my life, through my clinical work, through the Senate, through Parliament, through the Ministry, and through my service to this Party.
“Last night, I stood before members of the Progressive Labour Party and announced my candidacy for Deputy Leader. Today, I stand before Bermuda to say why.
“The Deputy Leader of this Party supports the Leader chosen by the Party, steps in when needed, stays connected to the branches, helps keep members informed, engaged, and heard, and brings steady counsel to the leadership table.
“That role is essential, and I am standing for it because our members and our country deserve leadership that is already doing the work required of it.
“Bermuda is asking real questions right now.
“Seniors are asking whether they can age with dignity in the country they helped build. Families are stretched between rising costs, caregiving, childcare, and uncertainty. Young people are asking where they fit. Caregivers are doing quiet, demanding work every single day. Persons with disabilities are asking for systems that see them, include them, and support equal opportunity.
“Members of our Party, our delegates, and our branches are also asking whether leadership is listening, not only during campaigns or conferences, but consistently, between elections, in the communities, and in the moments when people need to know they have not been forgotten.
“The Deputy Leader must be close enough to hear all of that and disciplined enough to help act on it.
“That is the work I have tried to do in every role I have held.
“In my clinical career, I worked with persons with disabilities, seniors, vulnerable adults, and children. That work taught me to listen carefully, to look beyond what is immediately visible, and to understand that people’s lives are rarely simple.
“I brought that into the Senate. I brought it into Parliament. I brought it into the Ministry. And under my ministerial leadership, working with dedicated public officers, community partners, and colleagues, that same approach has helped move serious work forward.
“Bermuda’s Plan to End Homelessness was tabled, resourced, and set in motion.
“The Dementia Integrated Care Pathway was advanced with the Bermuda Health Council because families caring for loved ones with dementia deserve a system that works together.
“Bermuda’s first National Disability Register was launched so we can better match services to actual need.
“Mental health support for Financial Assistance clients was expanded from six sessions to twenty-four because people in crisis deserve sustained support.
“The Rental Support Programme Hardship Fund provided one hundred and forty thousand dollars in support to more than one hundred and forty individuals and families facing emergency hardship.
“Astor House opened last month, providing transitional housing for men reintegrating after incarceration with structure, accountability, and a real chance to rebuild.
“The Family Preservation Programme, the Child Safeguarding Framework, the Zone-In youth programmes, and the Mary Prince Women’s Entrepreneur Conference with UN Women and UNDP were all built through partnership, and each continues to serve people.
“That is my record, and it can be checked because it has been done.
“But today is not only about listing work. It is about what that work says about how I lead.
“I believe leadership must stay close to people. It must be steady enough to make decisions, humble enough to listen, and disciplined enough to follow through after the announcement has passed.
“That is what I believe the Deputy Leader role requires.
“A Deputy Leader should be present in the branches between conferences and between elections, listening to what members are carrying and bringing that back to the leadership table.
“A Deputy Leader should strengthen the team, supporting the Leader chosen by this Party with loyalty, discipline, and honest counsel.
“A Deputy Leader should be able to step in when called upon because she already understands the work, the people, and the responsibility.
“That is the work I have been doing.
“I have served in an acting capacity as Party Leader. I have been a Branch Chairperson, a Branch Secretary, and a caucus representative on the Central Committee for six years. I have stood beside candidates on the canvassing trail, supported colleagues in the House, and shown up when it was visible and when the cameras were off.
“I am asking the delegates of this Party to look at the record. Verify it. Ask the people who were there, ask the people who have worked with me, and ask the people who have called me and know I answered.
“Then decide whether this is the steadiness, service, and follow-through they want in the Deputy Leader of the Progressive Labour Party.
“I have stood in, stepped up, and supported this Party in every room that required it. That is what a Deputy Leader does, and that is what I intend to keep doing with the full weight of the role behind me.
“Before I close, I want to return to where I began.
“I learned leadership making dinner for my sisters when I was young. I learned it sitting with a senior who had no one else to call. I learned it listening to families who needed more than sympathy. I learned it driving home after a late session, knowing that tomorrow I would show up again.
“That is what present means to me: a practice carried out every single day.
“On Wednesday evening at 6:00pm, I invite the community to join me at Bailey’s Bay Cricket Club for food and conversation. Strong leadership begins with listening, and I intend to keep listening.
“Thank you.”
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