September 8, 2014

Dear Sir,

This is in response to the recent letter signed by Eron Hill. May I point out that there are two sides to the coin.

I refer mainly to your comments about jobs and Bermudians. Mr Hill, the Government does not create jobs — at least not in the private sector. They may create an environment that helps create jobs, but it is the providers of capital and the entrepreneurs and business-makers out there who create jobs. You speak only of one side of the equation — the employee — but you forget to mention the expectations of the person putting up the capital, the employer.

You mention competition, and it sounds like you think that Bermudians either can’t compete; shouldn’t have to compete; and, in fact, it sounds like you are suggesting that Bermudians are entitled not only to the jobs but also to dictate the terms.

My friend, when I put up the capital to run a business I expect to get a return. That’s the way it works. Would you put up $100,000 of your own money and not worry about the possibility of a return? That’s the PLP rhetoric coming through. And that’s what got us in so much trouble.

You seem to think that everything the OBA does is done for the sole purpose of making life difficult for Bermudians.

Politics aside, if you are as educated as you seem to be and if you were willing to listen to reason you’d understand that without competition, without the reasonable promise of a return, and without the capital brought into the Bermuda economy by Bermudians and non Bermudans alike, there would be no jobs at all.

You might be better off suggesting to Bermudians that jobs in landscaping mean hard work; jobs in the restaurants and hotels mean shift work and working on weekends and public holidays; jobs in the international business sector mean getting an education that is meaningful first; and that employers have as much right to determine what they need to make a profit as a job seeker has to be non-competitive.

Do you really think that all these non-Bermudians are getting an unfair advantage over Bermudians? No way, the difference is they are prepared to do what they need to do to be competitive.

Just try your theory in New York or London, see how long that works.

REALITY CHECK