Former UBP Minister Quinton Edness has blasted the Government for creating an “atmosphere of intimidation” following the forced resignation of an English doctor who spoke out against plans to close a clinic for the poor.

Mr. Edness, who was Health Minister at the time the Indigent Care Clinic opened, said Catherine Wakely should consider suing Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) for millions of dollars for curtailing her freedom of speech.

Dr. Wakely was asked by the board to resign from her job at the clinic, which is based at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, after she wrote a letter to The Royal Gazette questioning the closure of the Government-funded centre. She is still on the Island but is no longer working.

Soon after she quit her job, Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess suggested that ex-pats should stay out of Island politics.

Mr. Edness, who has just returned from a three-month stay in Australia, said: “The hospitals board should immediately reinstate Dr. Wakely and pay her compensation for the damage and the embarrassment they have caused her.

“They have violated her constitutional right. Everyone in Bermuda, under the constitution, has the right to freedom of expression or speech.”

He said the infringement of that right along with the remark made by former Bermuda Industrial Union president Mr. Burgess and the revoking of a Canadian’s work permit after he argued with union organiser and PLP MP George Scott had “created an atmosphere of intimidation”.

“Bermudian people and guest workers are afraid to comment one way or another about anything,” he said. “This is totally wrong. There are a lot of people in Bermuda that fought long and hard for rights, particularly the right to freedom of speech.

“The union and people within the union fought long and hard for workers to be able to comment on policies that were not in their own best interests. To have the Minister, who has a union background, make that comment is completely objectionable to everything that the unions have fought for for many years.”

He added: “Freedom of speech is not dead. We live in a democracy and we have to ensure that it continues this way.”

Mr. Edness said the doctor’s public plea for the clinic to remain open was a “very humane and good thing to have done” and was not a criticism of her employers, since it was the Premier who proposed its closure. He said Dr. Wakely had a number of options for redress including lodging a complaint with the labour department, the Ombudsman or the Human Rights Commission and hiring a lawyer to sue BHB for “about $5 million”.

“If she does any one of these things most right-thinking people in Bermuda will support her,” he said. “She will have my support.”

Dr. Wakely does not plan to take any further action regarding her resignation. She said last night she was delighted that Bermudians were now talking about the issues surrounding the clinic’s closure.

“We really need Bermudians to take up this issue because it’s their own community that it’s affecting,” she said.

A BHB spokeswoman said: “We confirm that a doctor working in the medical clinic, who was still under probation, resigned. As this matter concerns an employee, our duty of confidentiality means we are unable to provide further details.”

Mr. Burgess is off the Island until next Monday.