Treating businesses like pariahs rather than partners is harming Bermuda's hard-won reputation as a haven for international business, says United Bermuda Party candidate E.T. (Bob) Richards.

He said unless action was taken irreparable damage would be done to Bermuda's economy.

He told business leaders at the Hamilton Princess on Friday: "Some of our detractors are sure to accuse me of scare-mongering, like they did after Sir John Swan sounded recent warnings."

But he said complacency had caused the decline in tourism.

He said the PLP's handling of the economy had several flaws which in combination could prove fatal.

Mr. Richards said the work permit term limit policy was not boosting job opportunities.

"In today's Bermuda, non-Bermudians hold 31 per cent of jobs, up from 23 per cent when the PLP came to power in 1998. Thus the term limits policy is not creating job opportunities for Bermudians."

It actually had the unintended consequence of creating an incentive for businesses to outsource their entry-level and mid-level positions to jurisdictions where those jobs can more easily be filled, he said.

"Those are the positions that Bermudians traditionally filled, so the result is there are fewer opportunities for Bermudians than there were before the policy was introduced."

Mr. Richards said a perceived lack of goodwill on the part of the Bermuda Government was another stumbling block as was the perception of corruption and escalating costs – for Bermudians and international businesses.

"The relationship of Bermudians with international business is within our control and influence, and sadly our government has been treating international business like pariahs instead of partners.

"The net result is a growing loss of confidence in the international business community and in Bermuda itself."

He said the Privy Council had been aghast to hear that the Auditor General had been arrested.

Another sign of creeping malaise was the increasing number of jobs being outsourced said Mr. Richards.

They included data processing jobs in finance said Mr. Richards who said those are the sort of jobs traditionally filled by Bermudians who are entering the business sector or those climbing up the corporate ladder.

"They are not the top jobs, but entry-level positions and processing jobs, where people can learn the skills they need to scale that corporate ladder.

"That's why this is so important. Fewer jobs for Bermudians means more jobs created by Bermuda companies, for people living in other countries.

"To ensure that Bermudians receive first bite at jobs in Bermuda, we first have to keep these jobs here. To make that happen, we have to partner with the international companies, not harass them. You don't treat partners like pariahs."

The Workforce Equity Act proposed by the Brown government is a "quota system without quoting the quota", said Mr. Richards, who added it was like a high jumper trying to clear an invisible bar.

"For argument's sake, let's set aside the philosophical and economic problems with quota systems; on a purely practical basis any such system requires a large pool of unemployed people to work, otherwise you end up robbing one sector to beef up another.

"Columnist Larry Burchall has shown how utterly impractical this legislation is because there is no large pool of unemployed workers."

Mr. Richards said the Workforce Equity Act is unnecessarily divisive and does not address the real issues, which is how to create opportunities for all while fighting discrimination in the workplace.

And he voiced concern that the recent Internnational Monetary Fund review, done in the summer, had given Bermuda a rating of 'less than satisfactory', in its anti-money laundering regulations, below the rankings of Panama and Vanuatu.

He said Bermuda's vital asset was its reputation.

"This asset is routinely under attack from our foreign competitors, but now it's under attack from within, like a cancer that is eating us up inside.

"It is critical that our reputation is preserved; it's up to us, the UBP and the people of Bermuda, to do so. It's time for a change."