This is the full speech delivered by Craig Cannonier to the OBA membership on Saturday evening at the Fairmont Southampton Resort shortly before he was elected the party’s first permanent leader.Good evening One Bermuda AllianceI am honored to be before you this evening running for Leader of the OBA. I am honored to stand before you because just one year ago we were two organisations and now we are one. I am proud because tonight we will lay the foundation for our victory in the next general election. I believe we will win. I believe that we will win if we give the people a reason to vote for us. We need to tell the OBA story that we put aside personal agendas, egos and party loyalties and put Bermuda First. Let me be clear, there are two people running tonight for leader but know that tomorrow we will be unified. We are unified because the serious issues facing this country today require a unified response. This is not about Craig or Bob. This is about ensuring we win the next election. This is about reversing the direction this country is headed. This is about who can go into those constituencies and give the people of Bermuda hope.With the fact that the tomorrow really is today we are faced with the urgency of now. Dr King articulated that over 42 years ago. However, those words ring loud today in Bermuda. There is an urgent cry to change the direction in which this country is headed. The future of our country is at stake. But you already know that. The people in this room know that. The people in this room understand that change must happen and it must happen now. The question is, what are we going to do to get to the people that are not in this room? We must get more people in this room. We must get people with different experiences in the room. We must get people in this room who are different than what you are accustomed to. We must get these people in the room so that they will help us turn this country around. I know that there are people who want to join the cause but they do not want business as usual. We must ensure that there are fresh new faces with new ideas as well as the experience to get it done. We cannot come out of this convention as business as usual. This election cannot be about the status quo. Choosing the status quo gives the PLP an early Christmas gift. They have already begun to label this organisation as old wine in a new wine bottle. I am here to tell you that old wine in a new bottle will not bring us victory in the next election. What we must do now is bring people in this room who will bring about change for Bermuda. To make new wine in new bottles.For example we have one of the brightest minds on education in the OBA. Toni Spring. She is an advocate for the empowerment of the student and teacher, working closely with Grant Gibbons who is a leader on education and finance policy. We must have these types of people in the room working together. I promise that they are out there just waiting to be asked. I know this because I came from them. I was them.We must convince the people of Bermuda that they can trust us with their vote. That it will not be business as usual. They are concerned that the Bermuda they love is headed in the wrong direction, but they don’t know us.There is not a day that goes by where we are not hearing about these issues. However, if we do not give the people of Bermuda an option that they can trust, the PLP will have 15 more years. Let me create that visual for you. A Bermuda whose safety net is gone. Where organisations like the Sunshine League suffer the wrath of a government overspending. A Bermuda where the value of homes has plummeted by 50 percent. A Bermuda where shares in the local market have no value. A Bermuda where the inheritance you have left your children is worthless. Bermuda has become a country where young men and women are frustrated not being able to find work and make a decent wage. Bermuda has become a country where the poor get poorer and the gap between the haves and the have nots widens. This movement that we have begun is about much more than fixing the economy.We can fix the economy but that’s not enough. We can fix the economy but that won’t stop the shootings. We can fix the economy but that won’t stop gangs from organising. We can fix the economy but that won’t stop the racial division that exists in this country. We must do more than fix the economy. We must be about changing hearts and minds so that all Bermudians can reach their full potential. You deserve this. The people of Bermuda deserve this.The OBA has solutions to these problems. We must show it. We must show them that the OBA way is about solutions not about criticisms. It’s about possibilities not limitations. We must show them that the OBA will bring about substantive change. We must show them that we can win. We must show them that we have bold new fresh ideas as well as the experience to get it done. They must see, smell and taste change. This election tonight cannot be about business as usual. The conditions of our country demand that we be serious about solutions.We must wake up this country. The PLP won a mandate to change Bermuda. Instead, after 13 years we have division, and an increased racial divide when we should have been on a pathway to healing. Cronyism, favouritism and nepotism have become constant practices that continue to plague our country. Despite this there are people that will still vote PLP because they have a deep emotional connection with them. There are those right now that are disappointed with the PLP but will still vote for them. The PLP depends on the division of race to stay in power. We cannot allow the PLP to define us, to paint us as the white party or the New BP. We must sit in their homes, and go to their communities and show them that the OBA is about one thing and one thing only and that is getting Bermuda working again. We will earn their trust and show them that the OBA government is about justice, equality, fairness, transparency, and the belief that all men and women should be able to realise their dreams in this country.I understand that some people may be concerned that I lack Parliamentary experience. I acknowledge this but I say to you leadership is not about one person. It is about team. No man is an island and no man stands alone. If we are to win the election we must have a strong team. Unified. Working together. I can lead that team.Some have said that I should bide my time. That I am young enough to wait. Well, we don’t have time to wait. The election is not about whether Craig has time or not. This election is not about superficial hierarchy. This election is not about pedigree or class. It is about people and whether we can win the election so that we can improve people’s lives. I am offended when people say to me ‘next time’ Craig. I have been a leader of a party and have demonstrated what we can achieve together. People talk about experience. Well, you are right. I have not been in politics for 15 years. But in two years I have led a party and led the charge to bring about the One Bermuda Alliance that will win the next election. I understand the urgency of now. I put aside my personal position and understand our mutual interests.My theme has always been the urgency of now. We must balance the budget now.We must get Bermuda working now. We must stop the murders now. We must invest in our teachers and our children now. When a patient comes in the hospital with a broken ankle or a broken arm he sits in the waiting room. But if he has internal bleeding the doctors immediately try to stop the bleeding because if they didn’t the patient would bleed to death. Well, my fellow OBA members, when we win the election under my leadership, Bermuda’s bleeding will stop and the healing will begin.Let me tell you what victory looks likeEvery seat the PLP has we go after. We will challenge their record on the economy, on jobs, on contracts, on social programmes. We will challenge them on their lack of planning for this great country. We will travel the country and knock on every door. We will show the differences between their lack of plans and our plan. We will help the young professional who wants to return to Bermuda. We will put forth a jobs plan for the people of this country. We will look at renewable energy solutions. We will be investing in our own infrastructure, our roads, our causeway. This will create jobs in Bermuda. We will work closely with our faith leaders as we promote values and a morally strong nation. The standards will be set high.We will invest in our students and teachers and build a world class educational system. We will take advantage of one of our most valuable resources and that is Bermuda College, strengthening their partners with colleges around the world. We will invest in our kids and empower our teachers. We will bring down crime by ensuring that our police have the best skills, training and most of all technology. You can’t send a fennel stick into a gun fight. We will also encourage our young men to get off the wall and walk into a job. We will not allow the PLP to hide behind race to distract Bermudians from looking at their true record. We will expose the masks that they are hiding behind. We will confront the issue of race head on. Their days of fooling the public are over. We will treat all that enter the shores of this Island with dignity and respect. We will not let the PLP define us.Lastly, I was born premature weighing only four pounds and did not breathe on my own for one half-hour. Doctors had given up and one decided to come back and not give up on Craig and said let’s give it a few more minutes and little more time. The doctors were breathing into my lungs so that my brain would get oxygen. Eventually I made it home after four months in the hospital. For whatever reasons that defy the laws of nature I stand before you this evening. That same child grew up in a place called St David’s, a place where diversity is as common as the reefs of our shores. I grew up without my father who was in my life but not in my life. He was crippled by the disease of schizophrenia. It was during these hard times I learned the lessons of faith and strong family ties and the belief that all men are created equal in the eyes of God. It does not matter where you start in life it matters how you finish. I want all the children of Bermuda to know that they can finish strong no matter how they start. And that an OBA government will make sure that they have a good start in life. And so again I am thankful tonight for this opportunity. This is a new day, a new beginning and it starts right here right now. I am asking you to vote for me to bring true change to our island home.Thank you.