Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Paula Cox introduced yesterday's debate on the White Paper, `Community for a new Millennium: Bermuda's Long Term Residents', and said debate on the subject had at times been characterised by reason and respect, careful consideration and exhaustive research, while at other times it had been characterised as emotive and vitriolic and on occasion may have included an element of disrespect, given the divergent views.

Ms Cox also said it was a debate to which Government intended to bring some closure.

Ms Cox set out the history of how the White paper came to be debated after a green paper on the issue was tabled in the House of Assembly in August 1999 and debated the following November.

She said the Green Paper set out a number of options that the Government was considering with a view to addressing the issue of Bermuda's Long-term residents and said: "As the people of Bermuda will know, a great deal of public debate proceeded the House of Assembly debate, including a series of town hall meetings, other panel discussions, letters to the editor and almost daily focus on the radio talk shows.

"There were also those who chose to communicate their views more privately, principally by means of personal representation at the Ministry of Labour Home Affairs and Public Safety and through written correspondence to the Ministry."

Ms Cox also said that the mandate of the Department of Immigration was to ensure the adoption of policies that strengthen the fabric of the Bermuda community and that promote its economic viability, and that Bermuda was not alone in this regard.

She said historically, countries throughout the world have wrestled with the challenges associated with immigration matters, including the grant of citizenship or some other form of permanent residency status in a county. She said they have sought different objectives and applied different objectives and applied varying strategies and resulting policies have been either programed or ad hoc, explicit or implicit.

Ms Cox said: "In my view, the difference between programed and ad hoc policy lies in the type of institutional responses afforded to the particular immigration phenomenon.

"The former provides responses within the content of a political, economic or social milieu and the later acts upon immigration pressures of the moment.

"It will clearly be seen that the immigration policies of this Government are not ad hoc. They are not knee-jerk responses to immigration pressures of the moment. Instead, they are the firm, fair and forthright outcome of careful consideration of every facet of the issue, including, most importantly, the views of stakeholder groups.

Ms Cox also said that Government's recently announced Work Permit Policy, like the White Paper that was debated yesterday, was programmed and informed and took into consideration the Island's particular political, economic, social and physical circumstances.

Ms Cox said that the effect of long term residents on employment had continuously been a hot topic, in particular, that immigration leads to fewer employment opportunities for local people.

Ms Cox said: "Such a conclusion is based on the usually erroneous assumption that the number of jobs in any country is fixed and that the arrival of people will somehow dilute the available stock of jobs."

Ms Cox said there were many ways that a country's population could fluctuate and said: "An increase in population creates more consumers whose needs have to be met. In turn more jobs are created. That has certainly been the case in Bermuda."

Ms Cox continued that the argument that non-Bermudian employees displaced Bermudian workers also assumed that both groups were competing for the same jobs, but she said very often, this was not the case.

She said that many of the world's most sophisticated countries and economies have at some stage had to import large numbers of foreign workers to fill vacancies and Bermuda was no exception in this regard.

She said: "Over successive years, there has been an influx of guest workers at the lower, middle and upper management levels as we have sought to improve the quality of life for Bermudians and to enhance our Island's reputation as a jurisdiction of choice to both visitors and investors."

Ms Cox said that during the past nine months, the Government has focused upon the development of a long term resident' policy that will be suited to the economic and social needs of the Government and the people of Bermuda and that will at the same time protect the rights and dignity of our long term residents.

Ms Cox said: The Government believes that the right balance has been achieved in the long-awaited resolution of the long-term residents' issue.

"The White Paper harmonises as far as possible both the right of Bermudians to sustain themselves, to maintain their essential character and to meet the needs of Bermuda's community and the hopes of people to become Bermudians."

She said that the white paper reflected the fact that on the one hand, Government recognised the need for some degree of permanence and stability for those who have over the years made Bermuda their home, while on the other hand, the new policy reflected Government's awareness that it must be mindful of - and must successfully manage - the legitimate needs and expectations of Bermudians, those who are Bermudian by birth and those who have already become Bermudian by grant.

Ms Cox said: "The new policy has been articulated in the context of fairness and humanity towards people, whilst at the same time it reflects the need to ensure that Bermudians interests are protected wisely.

"It is essential for the health and welfare of all the people of Bermuda that the Government determines what is right, and does what is right."

Ms Cox said that Theodore Roosevelt, the 23rd president of the United States and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906, wrote: "In a moment of decision, the best thing that you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

Ms Cox said: "With respect to the issue of long-term residents, it was the former Government that chose to do nothing, which according to President Roosevelt, was the worst thing.

"Instead, this Government, this Progressive Labour Party Government, has chosen to do what is irrefutable and demonstratably the right thing to do - from a moral, legal, ethical, and national perspective."

Ms Cox then gave a breakdown of the numbers and said there were approximately 1,500 long-term residents in Bermuda, that is non-Bermudians who have been ordinarily resident in the Island for 20 years or more, and that judging from the Working Resident Certificate holders, this figure translated to about 850 households, of which 550 will be families.

Ms Cox then summarised the policies outlined in the White Paper, exploring issues of hardship cases, siblings of Bermudians, parents of Bermudians, special hardship cases as determined by the Minister, non-Bermudian Parliamentary electors, the Permanent residents certificate, special groups to be deemed permanent residents and acquisition of land.

Ms Cox also said that they must always be mindful of the impact the new policy will have on Bermudians and said that in its first term in office, the PLP had brought closure to a debate that has caused division and hardship in Bermuda for much too long.

"The Government believes that this extremely challenging issue has been resolved in a manner that recognises social equity, justice and the dignity of all of Bermuda's residents," said Ms Cox.

She concluded by saying that former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir had said: "I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt that it was the right thing to do, then I was for it."

Ms Cox said: "The Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety is certainly no Golda Meir, but she certainly associates herself with that great world leader's view concerning the importance of doing the right thing.

"In this regard, the new policies enshrined in the White Paper are demonstratably, unequivocally and irrefuteabley the right thing for Bermuda."

Michael Dunkley, Shadow Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public safety complimented Ms Cox for being thorough in her approach to drawing up the new policy but said he disagreed with the decisions she had made.

Mr. Dunkley said the White Paper was the Government's decision and asked why they were wasting the time of the House of Assembly the tax payer, and the taxpayer's money in debating the issue.

He mentioned an article that appeared in the Tuesday edition of The Royal Gazette, in which Ms Cox said there would be no rethink on the white paper as she said it was a policy paper and not a discussion paper.

Mr. Dunkley said the UBP had the opportunity and the responsibility to sate the case for the Bermuda people and labelled Governments policy as "half baked."

He said the policy was a step towards resolving the issue, but he said he had no illusions that there was no win-win situation and that it would never be possible to make everyone happy.

Mr. Dunkley also said that the UBP had worked actively on the issue and they had an agenda to deal with the Long Term Residents.

Coverage of the debate

continues on Monday