As the battle to replace Premier Ewart Brown gets underway, the two Progressive Labour Party candidates to officially announce their leadership candidacy gave their thoughts on key issues to The Royal Gazette

Finance Minister Paula Cox and former Energy Minister Terry Lister spoke to reporter Tim Smith.

CRIME

TERRY LISTER:

While some blame Bermuda’s spiralling gang violence on the much-criticised schools system, Mr. Lister says the root of the problem lies closer to home.

He wants to ensure young men are given the best possible support as they grow up with their families, and would place greater emphasis on the Ministry of Social Rehabilitation.

“We have to look at that whole social situation. What’s going on with these young men as a group? What can we do as a Government and a country to turn it around?” he said.

“It’s easy to say the school system is failing us. I don’t believe that’s the case at all. The school system is at the back end of the problem, not the front end.

“The front end is what home life these young men are living through. We form our habits and behaviours at very young ages. What support are they getting in the home and community as they are growing up? These are the things we need to look at.

“I will put the Ministry of Social Rehabilitation at the top of my list of Ministries. I consider that to be the most important Ministry, ahead of Finance, Education, Immigration — it’s what I want to really hang my hat on.”

He says education also has a part to play, and would focus on maintaining reading skills of young primary schoolchildren before they fall behind their peers and start to lose their way; youngsters would also be taught the importance of taking personal responsibility.

In the short-term, he would consider judge-only trials for serious crimes to eliminate the potential for jury intimidation and unknown relationships between criminals and jurors.

And he would step up rehabilitation in prison so people would be less likely to reoffend, saying: “There’s more that can and should be done.”

PAULA COX:

New laws protecting vulnerable witnesses and cracking down on bad parents may have grabbed the public’s attention — but Ms Cox says it’s changes to rules of arrest that could make the first dents in Bermuda’s crime wave.

Recent amendments to the Firearms and Bails Acts give Police power to hold gun crime suspects for up to 28 days and impose conditions of bail such as a curfew or surrender of a passport.

The Deputy Premier says feedback from Police shows such legislation will be very helpful in making sure they catch those responsible for the unprecedented rise in gang violence.

But she says people shouldn’t expect a never-ending series of new laws to deal with crime.

“If you are going to assess what’s required, it’s not a matter of coming up with a lot of legislation,” she said.

“What Police need is greater cooperation being offered from the public. Legislation doesn’t change the mindset and hearts of man.”

Ms Cox says Government is also trying to balance the yin and yang by making sure social policies are in place to stop people offending in the first place.

These include initiatives such as the Child Development Programme which is trying to reinforce good behaviour in primary and preschool children.

“Greater focus is on what can be done to better track our young people,” she said.

“You speak to teachers, they say, ‘young Billy who’s been arrested, there were some flags.’ In the past, we’ve not been so observant. There’s a renewed focus on that.”

Ms Cox cites child day care and tuition at Bermuda College as examples of how Government is using fiscal policy to help those less well off.

She says Government must also continue to address inequality as it tries to get on top of crime.

“Not everyone who takes up a gun is dysfunctional, but more often that not there can be a link,” she said.

“Part of our role is dealing with those who have challenges and problems.”

But she warns against concentrating solely on those not doing well, adding: “We have got to be careful in focusing on those who have needs that we don’t focus only on a few. We have also got to encourage and reward good behaviour.”

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

PAULA COX:

Maintaining dialogue and staying at the forefront of new global legislation are the keys to keeping international business happy, says Ms Cox.

A seemingly endless stream of laws aimed at ensuring Bermuda remains in line with international practice has passed through Parliament under Ms Cox’s watch as Finance Minister.

“Those sorts of things may not be exciting, sexy or glamorous to people of Bermuda, but the big picture is if Bermuda didn’t have them we wouldn’t be seen as a jurisdiction that international business saw as regulatory.”

Ms Cox says it’s also important channels of communication are kept open and says she took part in a meeting with a significant group within the past two weeks.

She dismisses suggestions, often aired by the Opposition, that international business feels badly treated by Government, saying: “I don’t think that’s true at all.”

And she says the Island must maintain its reputation as a neutral jurisdiction, which she says it has successfully nurtured despite affiliations to the United States and Europe.

TERRY LISTER:

Mr. Lister wants Government to facilitate the wishes of international business where it can — and to explain its position through clear dialogue where it can’t.

Saying he wants to reach out to “dust off the welcome mat and start over” with international business, he said: “We have to listen and hear what people are saying and accommodate where we can: start the conversation with the intent of accommodating.

“Where we can’t accommodate we have to ensure that the other party fully understands what the situation is.”

He says it would not always be possible to accept demands for multiple work permits — noting that Bermudians’ needs can come into the equation — but that his administration would try to be flexible.

With international business losing seven percent of its jobs last year, Mr. Lister said: “When things are going the way they are now, we want to put a stop on that.

“Where people left Bermuda because they didn’t like Bermuda anymore, or it’s not competitive for their aims anymore, there’s a problem that we have to deal with.”

He says Government should continue lobbying hard in Washington, staying close to legislators and letting them know what Bermuda is doing.

EDUCATION

PAULA COX:

Ms Cox is hopeful of a brighter future for Bermuda’s education system after witnessing the community and Government get on the same page over the threatened closure of five primary schools.

She says Education Minister Elvin James has built bridges with angry parents since a leaked document early this year showed Government was considering shutting East End Primary, Prospect Primary, Gilbert Institute, Heron Bay Primary and Dalton E. Tucker Primary.

Following community uproar, a few weeks later Government announced no closures in its five-year plan for improving the Island’s schools.

And Ms Cox says the reunified spirit is the kind of action that can raise performance from the Island’s much-maligned schools system.

“Like many things in the process of change, what’s good to note is that, despite some of the original onset and sound and fury expressed, people seem to have a willingness to put their shoulder to the wheel and get on with doing the job — parents seem supportive — once you talk to people and get them involved,” she said.

“Parents were mobilising because of an inadvertent e-mail. The Ministry and Government were put under some pressure. By the process of the Minister going into the community, talking to parents, talking to PTAs, reassuring their concerns, we turned the volume down.

“Now, in terms of talking to the Minister, we notice it’s become less of a hot issue. People want to see it work. People are putting their shoulders to the wheel.”

She says progress should also come through the adopting of internationally recognised benchmarks and standards.

“I think there’s clearly a better outlook. I think the various reviews, the Hopkins Review, the move to an international curriculum, onionising of international standards, the certification of teachers, will all help,” she said.

TERRY LISTER:

Mr. Lister wants to start things very early by introducing mandatory testing of two-year-olds by the Child Development team.

He would follow that up by closely monitoring students’ reading levels throughout primary school to ensure they can read by the age of ten or 11.

The former Education Minister believes teachers must tailor their efforts towards the individual needs of pupils as the Island tries to get to grips with its education crisis.

“First and foremost I believe in empathy,” he said. “With the student population we have today, teachers have to have an empathy for each child as an individual. If we give young boys in particular the attention we will get results.”

He wants outstanding students to pair up with peers in most need of help, which would nurture their leadership and empathetic skills.

And he believes the National Training Board, senior schools and employers need to get on the same page with technical vocational programmes to prepare students for work immediately on graduation.

Tax credit programmes could be developed for companies who provide such opportunities, he says.

Meanwhile, to get the best out of the most gifted children, he would consider setting up specially dedicated centres of excellence.

Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy could share their facilities, he believes, while older students could be able to take first-year university courses at Bermuda College while still at school.

Mr. Lister would also step up physical health and healthy eating programmes for all children, and create an independent research unit to analyse and publish information on education results.

TOURISM

TERRY LISTER:

Mr. Lister says it’s time for Bermuda to “fish where the fishes are” by returning to America’s north-east corridor to “win back people”.

“Our tourism numbers have been really not healthy at all,” he said.

He believes the Island still needs to fill the gap following the demise of College Weeks when thousands of US students would descend on Bermuda during their holiday time.

The plan was that those young people would eventually become repeat visitors to the Island.

That void could be partly filled, he says, by encouraging sports teams from the States to tour the Island, bringing associates with them.

And he questions whether the Tourism Department has placed too much emphasis on modernisation, such as moves towards the Internet, at the expense of more traditional methods.

“That’s fine but we still need to have a personal touch,” he said. “We still need a travel agent somewhere along the way, who can bring added value, telling them about changes in hotels and things like that.”

PAULA COX:

Medical tourism could offer a boost to the Island’s economy, according to Ms Cox.

Patients from North America would fly to Bermuda — for treatment or recovery — in the same way they currently travel to Europe to avoid long waiting lists or high costs, she says.

The Deputy Premier says she would discuss the merits of the concept with the Island’s medical community before going ahead with it, and says the idea is not to pave the way for a stem cell clinic as proposed by Premier Ewart Brown three years ago.

“If you are prepared to travel to Europe, Bermuda can be an option,” she said.

Ms Cox acknowledges tourism is not doing “as well as we would like”, but says Government has to keep doing what it’s already doing to try to raise arrival figures.

She points to a recent move to lease public land for development at 9 Beaches which passed through the House of Assembly last month.

The team behind the 9 Beaches project will pay Government $15 million for a 262-year lease of the land, meaning it can press ahead with an $80 million development.

Ms Cox says Government must press on with similar legislative efforts, as well as creating infrastructure to allow mega ships and putting more Bermudians in the picture from a cultural and entertainment point of view.

ECONOMY/DEBT

TERRY LISTER:

Just like a family which has spent all its weekly money wouldn’t go out for an expensive dinner it can’t afford, so Government must learn to live within its means, according to Mr. Lister.

He describes the Island’s current account deficit for two years in a row as “really shocking”, saying it’s something Bermuda has never experienced before.

“We must have a positive current account,” he said, adding that once Government has spent all the money it must spend, it should then consider which of the other things it really needs.

“You simply do it the same way you do it at home,” he said.

A family that has $1,000 income a week, and has already spent $950 on necessities, would not then spend another $300 on things it could get by without, he explained.

Mr. Lister, who has a background in accounting, points to the Country’s ballooning debt, which has soared from $140 million when the Progressive Labour Party came to power in 1998 and $240 million four years ago to more than $1 billion today.

His number crunching has shown even if capital works are managed as carefully as possible that figure would be as high as $1.3 billion by 2014.

He wants to stem the flow by reviewing which Government programmes are really needed and spending less on consultants.

Mr. Lister declined to comment specifically about Ms Cox’s handling of the Finance Ministry, but said: “I do believe that we should not have got into that position. That’s one of the major reasons why I resigned [from Cabinet] last year. I had concerns about it all along. I wasn’t happy with where we were going.

“In four years, we have to question the intent and execution of doing everything so quickly.

“Programme review is a code name for smaller government and programme rationalisation. I really believe that if we try our very best on the capital account it may become $1.3 billion in four years.”

He said some existing programmes may overlap, adding: “Although we try, I don’t believe we have done an effective programme review up and down Government. We still allow programmes to become cemented in when they could have been taken out.”

Mr. Lister believes consultants are often necessary, but said: “Just picking consultants to look at any number of projects that could be done by us, doesn’t make sense.”

Much fuss has been made of travel expenses under Premier Ewart Brown’s watch.

“Ministers’ spending is a symbolic thing,” said Mr. Lister. “When the Minister gets on a plane, flies away somewhere and gets the penthouse suite for $500 when there’s a room downstairs worth $200 which is perfectly good enough — that says it’s all right to spend.

“That translates across the Ministry. People know about it and add a few hundred dollars here and there to their spending. They are getting a signal that it’s OK to spend.”

One other saving, he says, could be the gradual phasing out of government’s fleet of Toyotas and BMWs, to be replaced by environmentally friendly hybrid cars currently being trialed by Works Minister Derrick Burgess.

PAULA COX:

Some capital projects face being held and Government will reduce its staffing levels, says Finance Minister Ms Cox as she tries to bring Bermuda’s debt back down.

The Minister says Government will tighten its belt having carried out a review which has pinpointed areas where cost overruns can be cut and controls improved.

She believes debt — which has grown to record levels during her tenure as Finance Minister — can be reduced: “By looking at our capital projects and looking at those that are necessary and those that are must-do’s, and those that can be deferred. That’s already done.”

The rebuilding of the Causeway is one item which has been put on hold, she says.

And manning levels will be “rationalised” through rejigging of ministries, although numbers will be brought down through natural retirements rather than redundancies, she says.

She says Ministers’ travel, a persistent source of criticism, is only approved when it’s deemed necessary, while a much tighter rein over the Ministries is now in place.

“The information is there has been some reduction in travel and reduction in costs,” she said.

Ms Cox has stressed Government doesn’t borrow haphazardly, and that necessary spending for 2008/09 included $148 million of borrowed funds on modernising schools and making them safer; $37 million on new health care facilities including the Sylvia Richardson home in St. George’s; $84 million in airport works and seaport infrastructure; $40 million in housing initiatives; and $74 million on Home Affairs projects such as the Hamilton Police/court building.

Moving forward, she says the economy can be stimulated by a greater focus on jobs creation, particularly at a lower income level in areas such as construction.

And she says efforts will be made to reduce the tax burden on the retail sector to keep people open for business and decrease the risk of redundancies.

See tomorrow's Royal Gazette for Deputy Premier Paula Cox and backbencher Terry Lister's thoughts on jobs, race relations, health, human rights and Independence.

Third candidate, backbencher Dale Butler, says he will reveal his position on key issues after making his official announcement later this month.