January 10th, 2014

Dear Sir,

I continue to be disappointed by the Opposition’s increasingly predictable and unproductive criticisms, yesterday being a classic example. First, the Opposition claimed the ruling party has no ideas on how to create jobs, hours later they condemn the suggestion of ‘commercial immigration’ (with unnecessarily inflammatory rhetoric).

Is it the Opposition’s position that even if one of the criteria for ‘commercial immigration’ is the creation of 50 (desperately needed) jobs for Bermudians, there is no room for negotiation? Are they ignoring basic economic principles (we need foreign investment and ‘commercial immigration’ for a select few might be one way to do this) or would they rather have 50 unemployed Bermudians than one ‘foreign’ citizen?

Common sense dictates that any initiative like this has to be well-thought out and all pros and cons need to be considered but the Opposition’s statements like “disenfranchising Bermudians” and “relegate Bermudians to second class citizenship” add zero value to the discussion.

Sincerely,

Kent Smith

St. George’s