As Bermuda’s national debate heats up over the awarding of status to foreigners, one local businessman met with The Royal Gazette to discuss the controversial “gift” of status to his UK-born mother.

The practice of handing out status, known as discretionary grants, came to an end 25 years ago in 1989 under the United Bermuda Party Government.

But lingering mistrust over discretionary status has been cited in the controversy unleashed by this year’s Supreme Court ruling that clarified an avenue to Bermuda status for about 1,400 holders of Permanent Resident’s Certificates (PRC’s).

The man who spoke with this newspaper requested anonymity, to protect the privacy of his now-elderly mother.

“The reality is that back in the day it was a bit of a family joke — my mother had come out to Bermuda in the 1950s and this happened in 1976,” he said. One day she got a letter in the mail out of the blue effectively saying ‘we’ve granted you status’. She had never asked for status or applied for it.

“At the time, as I recollect, she sent a polite letter to the powers of the day asking why she was being given status — it wasn’t something she especially wanted.

“The response she received was along the lines of ‘We’ve given it to you and you can’t give it back’.”

Asked if he believed there had been a political motive for awarding his mother status, the man declined to speculate.

“Your guess is as good as mine. My mother is apolitical — she may have voted twice in her entire 50 years in Bermuda.”

The matter first came to light during the June 6 session of Parliament, in which the Opposition Progressive Labour Party sought to eliminate the section of the Immigration and Protection Act, described by Chief Justice Ian Kawaley as a “sleeping provision”, under which two PRC holders attained status.

Shadow Immigration Minister Walton Brown tabled the legislation, which was ultimately voted down by the One Bermuda Alliance Government on the basis that legal advice was still being taken for a possible appeal.

Mr Brown told MPs that the granting of status, which by 1989 had been reduced to 40 grants per year, had been “mired in controversy” — and fellow PLP MP Wayne Furbert, a former leader of the UBP, claimed that status grants had been deliberately used to cultivate “new white votes” to “help the predominant power”.

On that occasion, Mr Brown cited the case of the Bermudian man whose British mother had been given status without ever applying.

Responding to sceptical Government MPs, Mr Brown also said the woman in question had been told that Government needed her “support” — but her son couldn’t confirm that detail, calling it a matter of “pure speculation”.

He said he’d discussed the matter recently with his mother, who no longer lives on the Island, and had opted not to identify her publicly.

He added that she continues to hold Bermuda status.

Yesterday Mr Brown said that examples such as this “point to why there is a legacy of mistrust over this issue — that someone could be granted status without even making the application”.

“The fact that the individual in question lived in what was historically a marginal constituency raises questions about the possible political motivation behind it,” he said.

The granting of discretionary status was brought to an end on July 31, 1989, and the category of PRC holders was enacted by the PLP Government in 2002.

However, under the “sleeping provision” of Section 20B (2)(b) of the Act — an amendment made in 1994 — it emerged that PRCs present in Bermuda since the 1989 cut-off could become eligible.

Although the June 6 Opposition Bill would have deleted the offending section of the law, eligible PRCs would still be able to argue a legal case for receiving status, and Junior Home Affairs Minister Sylvan Richards subsequently responded that laws “cannot be made retroactive”.

Meanwhile, Government has dropped its appeal against Mr Justice Kawaley’s ruling after being advised that the tactic would be unsuccessful — and the matter has been the subject of three PLP town hall meetings, as well as a July 25 march on the Cabinet building by the People’s Campaign, in tandem with unions.

Mr Brown said public sentiment at the events showed that the controversy over discretionary status had endured in memory.

“It remains an issue,” he said. “That’s why we’ve called for a comprehensive review of immigration, including Bermuda status, so that we can come up with a policy that works for all affected parties. We’ve repeatedly asked of Government to discuss with us how we can resolve what is clearly an impasse.

“We’ve not had a response, but hopefully clearer minds will prevail so that we can address this issue.”