A protest outside Parliament saw Premier Craig Cannonier telling a hostile crowd he was committed to protecting Bermudian jobs.But Mr Cannonier and Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy faced booing and catcalls, despite a plea for respect from the mother of gun murder victim Haile Outerbridge.The two confronted an estimated 120 brought by the group Concerned Bermudians, angered by what they called a sidelining of ordinary Bermudians by a new administration seen as catering to international business and foreign workers.The One Bermuda Alliance Premier had already addressed an earlier protester, activist John Holdipp, that morning outside the House of Assembly.“I know there’s been concern, fear and confusion over term limits,” Mr Cannonier said, adding: “We found that it was redundant. All we had to do was enforce work permits.”But the bulk of protesters, many carrying improvised placards, arrived at 12 noon.Signs included “OBA: lies, lies and more lies” and “Fahy Must Go”.A woman who gave her first name as Deborah told The Royal Gazette she felt insulted that her concerns were dismissed as “xenophobic”.“We need international business and we need guest workers and we welcome them,” she said. “But Bermuda is not a company, and we need a Government whose priority is for Bermudians.”At 12.10pm, the appearance of Opposition members Glenn Blakeney, Zane DeSilva, Walter Roban and others prompted a chant of “Back to the polls”.The crowd was told that march organiser Marilyn Outerbridge, whose son Haile was shot dead along with Ricco Furbert on January 23, was inside talking with Mr Cannonier.With tempers running high among some of the protesters, who began shouting “We want Cannonier”, the appearance of a smiling and calm Mr Cannonier drew more boos.Ms Outerbridge spoke first.“My people, our people — I didn’t come here today to be disrespectful to anyone,” she said. “If you did, then I will ask that you refrain. Do not act like others with insulting behaviour. That is not us.”Appealing for good behaviour, she added: “That’s the Bermuda spirit. That’s what gets people to come to our Country and love us.”But another speaker called for the reinstatement of term limits and called for a public apology by Senator Fahy for “deception and condescension”.Mr Cannonier thanked protesters, adding: “This is not a bad thing — this is a good thing. We hear your voices and we hear your concern.”He said there was “no place for the word ‘xenophobia’ for the fears that we have.”He was referring to last month’s remarks by OBA Deputy Chairman Michael Branco, in which Mr Branco accused the Progressive Labour Party administration of introducing term limits to “pander to the xenophobic views of those Bermudians who would like Bermuda to be foreigner-free”.The Premier sought to define fears in terms of being “unable to find jobs, unable to find money”.Speaking over the shouts, Mr Cannonier defended the One Bermuda Alliance, telling the crowd: “This is a situation that we acquired. We didn’t give jobs away.”Eventually he had to ask to be allowed to speak over the boos, prompting press secretary Charmaine Burgess to request calm.Despite the signs calling for his resignation, Sen Fahy spoke next, thanking the gathering for “exercising your legitimate right of protest”.Government’s task, he said, was to “turn the economy around and create jobs for Bermuda”.Drowned out by boos and calls of “Apologise”, Sen Fahy told protesters he looked forward to working with them.According to a source who asked not to be named, the request at 12.30pm for the crowd to move on was made at the behest of police.Officers were also seen asking for restraint from some of the more vocal members of the crowd, including one who confronted the Premier while he tried to speak.Ms Outerbridge told The Royal Gazette her talk with the Premier had been “productive”, and left the demonstration.At a subsequent press conference, a hoarse Mr Cannonier said he wanted to recap the term limits protest.“I recognise the fears that Bermudians are feeling right now, probably more so than anybody else,” he said.The Premier said 12 percent of the Island’s working population were unemployed as of December.“I want you to understand, Bermuda, that the priority has to be about getting Bermudians back to work, and we must be decisive. We can’t go another day without creating jobs.”He called term limits an “overkill” that had driven jobs away from the Island and said the numbers of Bermudians in the workforce had declined since their introduction.Asked if the rancorous protest had taken him aback, Mr Cannonier said he hadn’t been surprised. People had been “trying to express the imminent urgency” of their situation, he said, calling it “healthy fear out there that Bermudians want to get back to work”.On apologising for what some called Government’s “condescending tone”, Mr Cannonier said: “When I heard that the word xenophobia had come up, I recognised that is not a word that should be placed in politics.”He added: “I apologise for that word being used, and will continue to ensure that our elected members refrain from using the word ‘xenophobia’.”For clarity, an aide pointed out that Mr Branco is a member of the OBA, not an MP.