There’s a certain irony in David Burt, the Premier, urging his Progressive Labour Party to wholeheartedly support Bermuda becoming a full member of the Caribbean Community.

That is because, for two years, Mr Burt has consistently asked the public, the Opposition and the media to withhold debate on full Caricom membership until a draft membership agreement is in hand and all the facts are known.

That would be entirely reasonable. Not enough facts are known about Caricom membership or what its costs, obligations and benefits are. It would indeed be better to wait until the facts are available before having the full-fledged and robust debate such a step demands.

What is unreasonable is that Mr Burt’s request to others to withhold their opinions has not stopped him and some of his Cabinet colleagues from trumpeting the supposed benefits or launching pre-emptive attacks on those who might oppose the move.

Perhaps Mr Burt wants to burnish his legacy with full Caricom membership before stepping down in a year’s time.

Whether that’s true or not, he should not try to tilt the scale in advance of the release of the discussion paper. It would be refreshing and a sign of political maturity to have a statesmanlike debate on Caricom; an honest and rounded discussion of the issue, shorn of hyperbole from all sides.

There remains in Bermuda a certain snobbery about the Caribbean from some of the more conservative-minded. This does a disservice to the positives of Bermuda’s centuries-old relationship with the region with which it shares much.

But on the other side of the coin, Bermuda having much in common with the Caribbean does not necessarily mean it is of the Caribbean. Bermuda also has centuries-old ties with North America, with the other islands of the Atlantic, most notably the Azores, and with Europe — most notably Britain, of which Bermuda remains an Overseas Territory.

Much of this island’s success stems from having been able to take the best of all of these relationships without becoming too closely aligned with any single one.

The vast majority of our tourists come from the United States, and the island is culturally influenced by America as well. But it also has historical ties with Canada, where a large proportion of university-educated Bermudians study.

Equally, Britain’s influence has been important, and while for a good part of the second half of the 20th century, it could be said that North America and the Caribbean were the strongest cultural influences on Bermuda, the UK provided most of its institutional influences.

This has changed since the early 2000s and the granting of British passports. Since then, increasing numbers of Bermudians are educated in British universities and colleges, and also live and work there.

It is in this context that Caricom membership needs to be viewed. Bermuda should embrace that part of its heritage that comes from the Caribbean and celebrate what the island has in common with its southern counterparts without discounting its other connections.

Removing both the overly positive and overly negative connotations the Caribbean has for different people in Bermuda would allow for a debate based on the facts.

The facts needed are the benefits of full Caricom membership and the costs, both in terms of fees but also other obligations and what effect it might have on Bermuda’s relations with other countries.

The latter point is important because the world is an increasingly precarious place. Having friendly relations with like-minded countries is more important than ever. But calibrating those relationships is crucial, so Bermuda must ensure it does not tilt too far in any direction. It requires delicate and sophisticated handling, especially in the context of the US, which is less predictable than it once was.

That a single television advertisement upended Canada’s trade talks with the US underlines the need for care.

More prosaically, the Government has already stated Bermuda will not be part of Caricom’s agreement on free movement of labour. It is fair to ask whether this opt-out will always be in place or whether, as Caribbean integration advances, it could change.

Caricom’s other main goal is to develop a single market for trade. It has been suggested that Bermuda would benefit from cheaper foodstuffs from the Caribbean, especially Guyana, and this is already being explored.

However, any debate on the topic should focus on what difference full membership would make. Since the Government has rightly cut or eliminated tariffs on essential foods, the question is what other trade or health and safety barriers might exist that would stop importation of food now.

It is possible that transport and logistics problems are the biggest barrier. If so, this is outside of the scope of Caricom agreements. It is important to be in full possession of the facts.

There will be many other issues of concern, no doubt. What is needed is an honest and objective debate when the long-awaited agreement and position paper are finally made public.

In the end, what needs to be decided is whether the island would be better or worse off as a result of membership, and if it might curtail its sovereignty and ability to steer its own course when it needs to do so.