Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister introduced the Commission for Racial and Equality (CURE) regulations to the House of Assembly for the second time yesterday.

He condemned the Opposition for stifling the debate on the last occasion by "shrewdly'' calling for a quorum, on the grounds that businesses had not been properly consulted.

"Now it's time for the choice of the electorate to prevail,'' Mr. Lister said. "It's time to move on.'' He said consultations with the public, held last April, had revealed that most people felt the regulations "did not go far enough'' in creating equal opportunity in the work place.

He added that consultations held with businesses just after the regulations were thrown out of Senate had ended with Government and the private sector agreeing to disagree over questions involving race.

"The historical legacy of racism in Bermuda has been plaguing us for far too long,'' Mr. Lister said.

"And few would dispute the fact that there is inequalities and, in fact, stark differences, between the races in Bermuda right now.

"Surveys have shown that most Bermudians feel the single, greatest source of that racism is to be found in the work place.

"So now I think its time we tackled that single greatest source.

"Everybody in the community should embrace CURE and should be seen to be moving forward,'' added Mr. Lister. "We should be working together hand in glove... Not standing at odds with CURE as a group that can't see eye to eye but on the same wave length.'' Mr. Lister said blacks' perception of racial discrimination "stem mostly from their own experiences'' and there was a need for strong statistical proof rather than anecdotal evidence.

"We want to move from perception to reality,'' he said, before citing similar legislation in the US and Canada. "It will assist us in determining if we're having success. CURE is ready to play a role in eliminating racism in Bermuda.'' The former United Bermuda Party Governments moved "very slowly'' in contrast to his Government, which, he said, was moving "carefully''.

Mr. Lister cited statistics from various reports produced over the last ten years, including the Newman, Swain and Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) Reports.

"Most of these reports were prepared for the previous Government,'' he said.

"We've just picked them up, dusted them off and read them. I had to ask my technical officers, `am I reading this correct?'.

"We're not going to let them sit for a long time, we're going to get something done,'' he added. "This is a valid, legitimate and honourable fight for members to get involved in.

"It is the intention of this Government to root out this destructive force which continues to devalue our Country. When one sector of the community suffers, the entire community suffers.'' Turning to the UBP-sponsored Code of Practice, Mr. Lister said the CURE regulations were also very necessary after a voluntary survey in June, 1999, showed the majority of employers fell short of the code in its first two years.

"Should CURE bury its head in the sand? Should this people's Government bury it's head?'' Mr. Lister asked. "Should business, should the workers bury their heads in the sand? Should Honourable Members in another place bury their heads? The answer is an emphatic and resounding no!'' He added: "Otherwise we are on a path to disaster. We don't need to go there.

This Government proposes to face the issue of institutional racism in Bermuda and this Government intends to fix it.'' Mr. Lister said the victims of institutionalised racism "don't feel we're going far enough'', adding that they were not celebrating in the streets over its eminent passage.

"So I'm disappointed by the level of opposition we're getting, given that we're going slowly,'' he added, explaining the community's perspective about business and the code of practice as being like "the fox guarding the hen house''.

"How can 62 percent of black men, who the statistics show have borne the brunt of racism, say that it is a problem, when 73 percent of the architects and designers of institutionalised racism, white men, say no, it doesn't exist at all?'' Mr. Lister said, citing the BIBA report.

"It is critical the business community comes together in a way that is going to see fairness and equity in employment practices,'' he added. "There is a stark difference of opinion.'' Mr. Lister said companies would be measured against one of 15 industry groups.

"If a company is under-represented then, in a consultative way, we will address what has gone wrong and how it can be addressed.'' He said people were once afraid to discuss race but his Government would tackle the issue head on. Many unfair practices had gone on for so long that they were accepted as normal.

He said the regulations would be no good if people dragged their feet or did not agree.

He continued: "The regulations set out the information that the Commission may reasonably require including changes as a result of discussions held with business, the community and the public at large.'' Companies with ten or more employees would start collecting information from September 1, 2000, and report to CURE on August 31, 2001, and every year during the review period.

It would give companies an opportunity to get an overall picture of their operations.

He reassured business that Government would only publish summaries of information, not details about individual companies, although businesses were free to publicise their own CURE data.

Mr. Lister added it was not the intention of CURE to force companies to fire workers, or hire incompetent staff, and Government was not in favour of quotas.

To businesses who complained the regulations were too costly, he said: "Now is the time to implement change for the good of all in Bermuda.

"Now is the time to implement the International Labour Organisation Convention and give real meaning to the UN convention on the elimination of racism.

"It is time to cast away the mind set of centuries and of generations. Now is the time to change.'' Mr. Lister said the regulations would not include students. Employers would be required to keep records on employees who left the company for three years, and details on applicants who failed job interviews for one year.

Shadow Development, Opportunity and Government Services Minister Allan Marshall said CURE was part of the UBP's soul because it introduced the legislation.

Government had the numbers to force the legislation through, but only time would tell if it achieved the objectives of CURE.

Referring to newspaper reports, Mr. Marshall highlighted concerns from businesses about lack of consultation.

Coverage of yesterday's debate will continue on Monday