A United Bermuda Party Government would establish a national policy on economic empowerment so as to irreversibly eradicate the huge racial injustices that blight Bermuda's past.

This is according to Shadow Race Relations and Economic Opportunity Minister David Dodwell, who yesterday outlined a raft of proposals included in the UBP's Economic Opportunity Plan launched in December last year.

Speaking in the House of Assembly, Mr. Dodwell said that no discussion of economic empowerment would be complete without confronting the issue of race and the history of race relations.

And despite a number of vocal protests from the Government benches, he insisted that any UBP empowerment plan would not be focused solely on the black community.

Government Backbencher Renee Webb said should include the words “black” economic empowerment, adding that she had been waiting for her Government to do something to bridge the economic gap between blacks and whites since they came to power in 1998.

And Finance Minister Paula Cox called the motion “a trifle patronising and condescending to small businesses. What we need to do if we're serious, then we have to move from rhetoric to reality”.

Mr. Dodwell - who last year became the first person to fill the newly created post for Race Relations and Economic Opportunity - said: “As a people we have a responsibility to break down the racial barriers in our community and assist in the reconciliation process.”

He added: “This is why we created the new portfolio I now hold as Shadow Minister for Race Relations and Economic Opportunity. We recognise that this won't be easy, but we are willing to expose ourselves to the challenges of this issue rather than hiding from them. We believe that Bermuda's future success, the future success of every Bermudian, depends on getting this right.”

While Bermuda is full of people with the “minds and the will” to become successful entrepreneurs and advance their economic status, too many have not been given the Government support they need and deserve.

“We must address the fact that certain people have been excluded and that whites have benefited from this - let's face the reality,” he said. “We must remember what has happened in the past so that each of us - black and white - can deal with it and continue the reconciliation process.

“All Bermudians should have an opportunity to be active participants in the economy of Bermuda, irrespective of race. Until we as a people face this, Bermuda will only be a good country, but will never be the great country that it can be.”

At the very centre of a UBP Government's empowerment plan, he said, would be the creation of an Office of Economic Empowerment within the Ministry of Finance, which would be handed the mandate of broadening economic opportunity and working with and advising small businesses on how to make a success of their enterprises.

The OEE would report to the House on an annual basis.

The Office would be created under an Economic Empowerment Act which would also include:

A Government commitment to a two-year plan to allocate 20 percent ($60 million) of Government's spending on goods and services among small businesses

The establishment of a Small Business Procurement Programme which would outline the goods and services Government can procure from small businesses for a fiscal year and develop a strategy for expanding the number of small businesses awarded Government contracts

A requirement that businesses which receive over $5 million of Government business participate in sponsored mentoring programmes for small businesses

An undertaking that Government would facilitate venture capital financing from banks for small businesses that have acquired Government contracts.

The Act would serve four separate purposes, he continued, by turning a government's energies towards expanding economic opportunity for everyone, breaking down barriers to opportunity and advancement, improving small businesses' access to capital and promoting greater openness and accountability.

Further tax breaks for small businesses, an extension of the retirement age and an expansion of educational scholarships and training programmes would compliment a UBP Government's overall plan, he said.

In the face of howls of disagreement from some Government backbenchers, Mr. Dodwell argued it would be fundamentally wrong to focus an empowerment plan solely on the black community - despite the undeniable reality, he conceded, that blacks have suffered most from Bermuda's past and present discriminatory practices.

“The issues of race and economic opportunity are not just for the black community,” he insisted. “We believe that whites must play a role in and benefit from our vision as well.

“If we can find new ways to expand economic opportunity, it does not have to mean anyone, black or white, giving up wealth, power and influence.

“As Nelson Mandela once said. ‘I have fought against white domination and fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony with equal opportunity'.”

Mr. Dodwell concluded: “Pursuing solely the empowerment of the black community is not the answer. After all, our people deserve nothing less than One Bermuda, where success is achieved through unity and where success is shared by all.”