Disagreements about the granting of Bermudian status returned to the House of Assembly on Friday, with the Government drawing a line in the sand.

Ben Smith, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, said during the motion to adjourn that granting status to holders of permanent resident’s certificates would help to address the island’s declining population.

Mr Smith said that the island had a “population crisis” with an ageing population, declining birthrate and emigration, and steps needed to be taken to ensure more human capital did not leave the island.

He said the numbers of people who would be affected fell short of the “floodgates” described by critics, stating that the only people who would be permitted were those who had work permits approved by both administrations over the past 20 years.

“That’s how they ended up being here that long, paying into our charities, paying into our grocery stores, hiring Bermudians,” he said. “That is the people we are talking about when we make these blanket statements.”

David Burt responded that the granting of Bermudian status to PRC holders would only increase the number of jobs free from work-permit controls and was a red line that the Government was not willing to cross.

However, the Premier added that he would welcome discussions about PRC holders receiving Bermudian citizenship should the island go independent.

“If they want to meet us halfway, if status is so important, then let’s have a real conversation so that we can extend not Bermuda status to PRC holders, but Bermuda citizenship to PRC holders,” Mr Burt said.

The debate came after Michael Fahy, the Shadow Minister of Housing and Municipalities, and Home Affairs, said that Bermuda’s declining population played a role in the increased cost of living, and granting Bermudian status would help to incentivise more people to move to the island.

During the exchange, Mr Smith noted Bermuda’s economic reliance on international business and the need to prevent Bermudians and non-Bermudians from emigrating.

“Right now, we have an economy that is being held together by international business,” he said. “Everything we do seems to be about making sure that group has what they need so that they support everything else in our community.

“That’s where the reports are coming from. The ratings are coming from the influx of finances that are coming from that industry.

“The majority of those people and their finances come from somewhere else and we are moving into a corporate income tax, which means we will be even more connected to how their resources take care of our country.

“There are multiple countries that want to have those same people move to their shores and they will incentivise them to get them to move to their shores.”

Mr Smith said that while Bermudians from multiple generations were leaving the island, they were not the only ones emigrating.

“The children of those PRCs born in Bermuda, educated in Bermuda, participating in our sports — they are thinking to themselves, am I really part of this country?

“They are part of that group that is emigrating and not coming back.”

Mr Burt said he was grateful that the One Bermuda Alliance had made its position on granting status known, stating that the party had not mentioned “Pathways to Status” since it was rejected by voters.

“When we said their ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ is a smokescreen for wanting to extend status to PRC holders, they came back and said no, that’s not what they mean,” he said.

He added: “You cannot have an honest conversation if you are afraid, unable and do not have the courage of your convictions to state your position.”

Mr Burt read a section of a 2016 statement he had made in the House, stating that Pathways to Status focused on those who were already on the island and it was unclear how granting status to residents helped to increase the population.

“If the view is that granting status to PRC holders will increase the population of the country, I will only ask the OBA to take their time to explain to the people of this country how,” he said.