Bermuda can grow with other Caribbean countries if it becomes a full member of the Caribbean Community, a town hall was told last night.

Alexa Lightbourne, the Home Affairs Minister, told the public meeting that full membrship was not about “creating a competitive environment”.

“It’s less about the narrative that seeks to define and create a competitive environment, but about leveraging the strengths that we have and the strengths that they have and being able to grow together,” she said.

Her comment came as she and other panellists addressed nearly 100 people at Centennial Hall at St Paul AME Church in Hamilton to hear more about why the Government wants to move Bermuda from associate membership to full membership of Caricom.

Ms Lightbourne said that joining Caricom was ultimately about trading with similar countries while exercising “political maturity”.

She said: “It’s about joining a room of others that have the same challenges that we have and the same experiences that we have.”

Ms Lightbourne was joined by Christopher Famous, a Progressive Labour Party MP, Phil Perinchief, a former Attorney-General, and Dana Selassie, who moderated the panel.

The home affairs minister said that joining the group as a full member would give Bermuda a say in the regional decisions that would impact the island.

Bermuda is currently an associate member.

Ms Lightbourne added that full membership would better allow for the trade of expertise and goods, while also giving Caribbean countries a better chance of learning from Bermuda’s example and vice versa.

She said: “It’s less about the narrative that seeks to define and create a competitive environment, but abut leveraging the strengths that we have and the strengths that they have and being able to grow together.”

Ms Lightbourne added: “We have already been a part of the Caribbean trade, so why would this be different and why would we think that we are different?”

Mr Famous, who supported the idea of full membership, pointed out that Bermuda had many cultural connections to the wider Caribbean.

“We have to dispel the myth that Bermuda is not a part of the Caribbean,” he said. “Geographically we’re not, but culturally speaking we are.”

He added: “Some came from England, some came from the Azores and some came from the US.

“But the majority of us, Black and White, came from the Caribbean.”

Mr Perinchief told the crowd that he supported full membership because it would help Bermuda tell “the story of us” by embracing Bermuda’s shared heritage with the region.

He said: “For me, this is a unity — a renaissance. This is us going back to come forward.”

One attendee asked if the Government had considered joining the Association of Caribbean States, a similar entity that offered more voting freedoms to member states who would be directly impacted by ACS decisions.

A similar question was raised about how practical Caricom benefits, such as technical offerings, differed from those offered by the UK.

Ms Lightbourne pointed out that, while Caricom offered benefits that Bermuda could get “in piecemeal in other places”, the island already had existing connections to Caricom that would be deepened by becoming full members.

However, she added: “I think any opportunity to deepen our [political] advocacy is worth looking into.”

Another attendee raised concerns of unity between member states and asked for assurances that countries would stand together.

The woman said that the US had used its power to push for its own interests in the region, such as using Trinidad and Tobago for surveillance in Venezuela.

She said: “I have watched very recently as the US has torn them apart.

“I want to know — what’s in it for me and what’s in it for us? Are we a together group, or are we separate in whatever separates us?”

Caricom has been divided over the US attack on Venezuela, with Trinidad supporting the US intervention and other countries calling for the Caribbean region to be a “zone of peace”.

Mr Famous said instances where the US controlled other countries through influence instead of direct military intervention were examples of “neocolonialism”.

However, Ms Lightbourne said that, while no international group was perfect, Caricom was built on a sense of unity.

“We will have things that are best for us,” she added.

One man asked the panel how the Government planned to involve young people in the discussion as they were “the future of Bermuda”.

Ms Lightbourne said her ministry had talked to the Youth Parliament and several schools about Caricom and how Bermuda could benefit from full membership, and added that there would be several social media campaigns to spread information to younger people.

However, she added that older members of the public should also talk to their children about this topic to make sure they understand the benefits, difficulties and changes.

One attendee shared that he did not see the benefit in joining Caricom, saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

He explained that Bermuda was capable of building on its own economy without the help of Caricom.

He added that he believed food importation from the Caribbean would be a challenge, as importing goods from closer US ports such as New Jersey was already difficult.

“We’ve got it pretty good,” he added. “Altogether I think we’re doing pretty well.”

However, Mr Perinchief said this was less about fixing something broken and more about outgrowing it.

He drew comparisons to the computer overtaking the typewriter, before telling the crowd: “We’ve got to move beyond the typewriter.”

Ms Lightbourne added that, while perfection was not promised, membership would offer “an opportunity to grow and to share”.

She said: “I think Bermuda has evolved into a mature state and standing, and this has evidenced how we have matured.

“It’s not about the Government telling you what you may not have necessarily read yourself.”

More town halls are expected to happen in the near future.