John Barritt
OPINION COLUMNIST
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May 17, 2013 8:00 am
We need to change the way PAC operates
It’s been nine weeks since MPs trundled up the Hill to do business.
A nice break, you might think, but let’s not be too harsh here. The work of Government doesn’t just stop because the House is in recess. Besides we all know that the real work doesn’t happen up there on the Hill, it is down there around the Cabinet table that the actual decisions are made, and then taken to caucus for review and approval. -
May 10, 2013 8:00 am
Gleaning proposals while securing political cover
Ventriloquism isn’t just for dummies, Mr Acting Editor. It can also be a very useful and effective political tool. No, I am not referring to bloggers and petty party hacks posturing and posing behind pseudonyms. Those people are about as subtle (and recognisable) as a slap in the face. I am thinking of something a little more sophisticated and elaborate than that. Here’s how it works: —
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May 3, 2013 8:00 am
Operation Ceasefire: We need to spell out the goals
Spare me the wisecracks about great minds and fools but that was some coincidence Mr Acting Editor, two of your Friday columnists DJLT and JB separately and independent of each other, as you know, reflecting on the tragic events in Boston and each wondering whether Bermuda really has the necessary will to tackle gang warfare in the Island.
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Apr 26, 2013 8:22 am
Can Bermuda respond to crime like Boston did?
See something. Say Something. Know something. Say Something. Those are not just words, Mr Acting Editor, but powerful advice which, when acted upon, can constitute an effective tool in helping to combat crime and bring criminals to justice.
Now think Boston. -
Apr 19, 2013 8:00 am
Value for money in Bermuda means quality service
Everyone who lives in Bermuda is an expert in tourism. So am I. But I am going to try and avoid political bickering, the predictable petty ping pong of partisan politics as to whose national plan we are working from, whether the Tourism Authority is really a Board and where the Minister will fit in. Eschew all that, Mr Acting Editor.
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Apr 12, 2013 8:00 am
Marijuana debate should be community-wide
The young are the restless. It is a line for which I cannot take credit. It was a headline that appeared recently in The New York Times. It caught my eye as did the subject matter: how views are changing on the decriminalisation and use of marijuana. A writer by the name of Charles M Blow (yes, real name) was commenting on an April 2013 poll that for the first time showed that more Americans support legalising marijuana than oppose it.
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Apr 6, 2013 8:00 am
Where our system falls short
The issue of financial disclosure for parliamentarians has concerned me for years, Mr Acting Editor. There has always been this nagging feeling that the requirement for disclosure has been honoured more in the breach than in the application. The reason? It is simply not policed like it should be.
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Mar 28, 2013 2:35 pm
Is the Senate really the body of sober reflection it was intended to be?
Short week, short takes, Mr Acting Editor.
Take One, Senate: After 56 hours of Budget Debate up the Hill we get 22 more down the Hill. But it has its uses. -
Mar 22, 2013 8:00 amWe need published guidelines on our minister’s salaries
So often it’s the little things in life that seem to count the most, Mr Acting Editor, and the big ones not so much. Politics is no exception: things like feral chickens, garbage collection, roads and street lights, letters to the Editor and GP cars.
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Mar 15, 2013 8:00 am
No smoke, but plenty of fire
There’s no chimney on the House on the Hill, Mr. Acting Editor, so there’s no chance of ever seeing the smoke whether black, white or grey. We read and hear instead about the heat, sparked I am sure by the partisan nature of politics. They are after all MPs, not cardinals. Still, as you yourself opined this week, we would all like to think members could raise the bar a little. I’ve made a few suggestions myself.
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Mar 8, 2013 8:00 am
We must engender debate
As far as parliamentary debates go, Mr Acting Editor, the Budget Debate is by no means the Hill’s equivalent of ‘The Harlem Shake’. Not even close. Never was, and likely never will be. Not without some serious changes. For sure it should be something more than the somnambulist’s dream that it has become over the years (or is it nightmare?).
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Mar 1, 2013 10:19 am
Budget was a reality check
That was, Mr Acting Editor, some reality check (pun intended) and it is not one we will be able to cash any time soon. Public debt now stands at $1.469 billion and counting. Our new Government is projecting an operating deficit of a further unprecedented $331 million for the coming financial year and, yes, gasp, they intend to raise the authorised debt ceiling by one more billion dollars to $2.5 billion.
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Feb 22, 2013 8:00 am
Time for Bermuda to face up to some long term issues
Bob’s your uncle? Not on Budget Day 2013, Mr Acting Editor. The man has some job to do and I don’t envy him one bit. You could say that the new Finance Minister in a new Government is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and he hasn’t got a lot of room to manoeuvre.
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Feb 15, 2013 8:00 am
Expectations running high — now it’s time for delivery
You know the saying, Mr Acting Editor, the more things change the more they stay the same. The Throne Speech ritual endured once again — with some minor variations. It was long, yes, (45 minutes or so) but it was mercifully short, perhaps pointedly so, on too much vision. Instead, it got down to business pretty quickly and set out in workmanlike fashion all the things on which the new One Bermuda Alliance Government intends to concentrate...
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Feb 8, 2013 8:00 am
It’s time to overhaul the Parliamentary Election Act
It is practically an annual ritual, Mr Acting Editor, wishing and wondering what will be in the Throne Speech. Guesses and hopes make for interesting copy, but let’s also be realistic about what we can reasonably expect. This is after all a new Government, under new leadership, that has had to hit the ground running.
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Feb 1, 2013 8:00 am
The time has come for action
Please, Mr Acting Editor, I do not mean to make light of the recent double murder and the outrage that has followed when I ask this question: how many times must we go around the political mulberry bush before we take action?
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Jan 25, 2013 1:59 pm
It comes down to us, the people
Let me go out on a limb this week, Mr Acting Editor. There are those who question (not unfairly) my apparent preoccupation with process. They think that we ought to be more concerned with turning the economy around, that is generating more business for Bermuda and creating more jobs. I don’t disagree. But let’s be clear: this is not going to happen overnight. The ship of state tends to move slowly too — and here’s my...
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Jan 18, 2013 8:00 am
It is time to work together
When it comes to working together, Mr Acting Editor, you have to believe that if there is a will there is a way. Certainly it would seem that the stars are aligned for a change in the way our political parties do the country’s business. We have a new Premier, a new Opposition Leader, a new Speaker (will have: no matter who is chosen), and some new blood up and down the Hill, at least a third of the MPs qualify as first-timers and half the...
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Jan 11, 2013 8:15 am
There’s still a chance
You have to admit, Mr Acting Editor, that the idea of inviting a member of the Opposition to sit in the Cabinet had broad appeal — and most likely to that good majority of voters who want to see the two parties working together for the good of Bermuda etc, etc. It was a grand gesture, and I do not doubt for one minute the genuineness of the offer, but it wasn’t ever likely to actually work. It would take a brave member of the party...
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Jul 5, 2012 8:01 amWe need to repair, not to despair
This is an abridged version of a speech recently delivered by former One Bermuda Alliance Leader and long-standing MP John Barritt at the Annual Bishop’s Luncheon
One of my favourite sayings, a West Indian proverb, tells us that the leaky roof may fool the sun but it won’t stop the rain.
- Should liquor stores be able to sell alcohol on Sundays?
- Yes
- 71%
- No
- 27%
- Don't Know
- 1%
- Total Votes: 2016
- Poll Archive