Opposition MP Rolfe Commission welcomes confirmation and calls on Govt to get private sector buy-inBy Jonathan BellDropping the Job Corps initiative would leave Bermuda with another lost generation, warned Shadow Workforce Development Minister Rolfe Commissiong.However, Deputy Premier Michael Dunkley said Job Corps had “failed to get any participation from the private sector” under the PLP Government.Mr Dunkley, who delivered the Budget brief in Parliament on behalf of Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy, told The Royal Gazette: “Job Corps isn’t off the books.“But it’s not moving anywhere at this point. We’re looking to see if it can be restructured.”The $12 million bill for Job Corps was originally intended to be split between Government and the private sector.Mr Commissiong said he was happy to hear Government was still committed to the initiative.“I would encourage them to redouble their efforts to get the private sector buy-in.”The Progressive Labour Party Pembroke South East MP said scrapping the programme would “replicate the loss of a generation, which we’ve seen before”.Mr Commissiong said the Opposition applauded the One Bermuda Alliance for throwing its weight behind the Career Pathways work experience scheme for students.“But Government still has obligations to fill that void, and there are serious social consequences of not doing so.”Term limits policy remains a sharp point of difference between the parties.Mr Commissiong said Government “played their cards very effectively” on the issue.He added: “I’m still not altogether sure that term limits played a major role in the loss of jobs, especially in the international business sector, as the Opposition were claiming and continue to claim.“There was a host of structural factors which would have slowed growth in that sector over the last few years — the rise of new insurance vehicles such as sidecars and Insurance Linked Securities.“There was the rise of disintermediation driven by technological change which has resulted in the elimination of many lower to mid level positions over the last two decades. And, of course, outsourcing.“But one of the biggest problems, of course, has been the very high cost of doing business in Bermuda.“All those factors have compounded the challenges we’re facing. The simplistic argument with respect to term limits wasn’t as valid as they continue to make it out as.”And he said those who accused Bermudians of being xenophobic were being unfair.“At the worst, it’s the implication that black Bermudians and PLP supporters have an irrational hatred of foreigners, or, at the least, have some hostility, particularly to those foreigners who are competing with Bermudians in the workforce.“It’s a very provocative and destructive argument, and it’s simply not true.“Those Bermudians that tend to make this charge against their fellow Bermudians need to understand that most Bermudians in previous generations lived in a Bermuda where foreign labour was imported to the country and often used to displace black Bermudians in the workforce.“If Bermudians have some of these attitudes toward the foreign workforce it’s short-sighted not to try and understand why that may be. What has been the ultimate cause of these attitudes? It’s part of the conversation that we need to have.”Insisting that social factors fuelled the income gap between black and white Bermudians, he noted: “The rise of income inequality comes with a steep price. I believe we are starting to pay that price.“Bermuda is largely colour coded and these challenges emanate largely from black working class communities and households all up and down the country, which have disproportionately borne the brunt of income inequality.“It’s a far deeper issue than simply getting more education. We’ve seen numerous studies which indicate that similarly educated black and white persons will have disparate outcomes in terms of opportunities to get jobs, and once having gotten jobs, in most cases won’t get the same opportunity for promotion as has been the case as their white counterparts.“The gap has closed somewhat but we still have some ways to go.”Mr Commissiong questioned the OBA’s pledge to create 2,000 jobs over the next five years.“If the global economy begins to take off in a few years we may begin to see that hoped for job growth.”He added that he expected to see a Gaming Bill come before the House or by way of a referendum “fairly soon”“We just can’t afford to ignore its potential any more. Now, there are legitimate religious concerns.“I’m convinced we will have to go the extra mile in crafting a model legislatively, if it’s approved, that begin to address some of those legitimate concerns.”