Members
Parliament
Transparency
The Hon E. David Burt, JP, MP

The Hon E. David Burt, JP, MP

952
Speeches
126,382
Words Spoken
99
Sittings Active
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
627 words
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members of the House of Assembly, it is a great honour to present the fourth Budget Reply of this Parli ament on behalf of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party. Mr. Speaker, what many may have missed in the Budget Book is that the Parliamentary Registrar has been allocated funds to prepare for a general election, so …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
357 words
Mr. Speaker, the harsh reality is that our country’s fiscal situation is daunting. We have a very significant debt challenge that we must ad-dress, and everything that we must do must be done with a view to balancing the budget. This is not new; we have said this in consecutive Budget Replies that getting to a balanced budget must be …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
847 words
Mr. Speaker, prior to my substantive remarks on the budget, I would like to talk about the very topical issue of immigration. Before I speak about the OBA’s misgui ded approach to immigration reform, I would like to remind Bermuda of the policy position of the Progressive Labour Party as delivered in the Reply to the Throne Speech in November …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
951 words
Mr. Speaker, the people did not leave because they did not like the PLP; they left because their jobs disappeared via outsourcing, change of domicile, or industry consolidation. And though a few may have left because they were unable to get a work permit for their nanny, most of those people in those 5,000 jobs did not have a nanny, …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
376 words
If Premier Dunkley is unwilling or unable to go to the people, for the sake of stability we urge the OBA to withdraw this objectionable policy proposal and commit to a collaborative approach to immig ration reform. In February 2013, the Progressive Labour Party called for a Joint Select Committee to consider comprehensive immigration reform. Three years later, the OBA …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
44 words
Mr. Speaker, the Minister went through great pains to tell the st ory that Bermuda’s economy is on the path to recovery. However, after a close examination of his statements, the Minister may not want to declare victory just yet. End of the Recession
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
126 words
At the outset of his Statement, the Minister boldl y declared, “We have worked our way out of The Great Recession, with five consecutive quarters of GDP growth.” However, Mr. Speaker, that is false. In what must be a need to paint a better picture than reality, he has put 2014’s Quarter 1 figures next to 2 014’s Quarter 4 …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
148 words
Mr. Speaker, in looking for figures to support his assertion that the economy is recovering, the Minister sought to use the number of contai ners as an indicator of demand. The Minister opined the following (and I quote): “However, the volume through the waterfront is an indicator of broad demand on-island. The year 2015 registered 19,067 containers versus 16,562 the …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
261 words
Mr. Speaker, when speaking about the construction industry, the Minister stated, “Construction is an important area of employment in Bermuda. Although the blockbuster projects have not yet commenced, the sector is already expanding.” Mr. Speaker, once again the facts do not match t he Minister’s rhetoric. In 2015, the number of persons employed in the construction industry fell, as they …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
750 words
Mr. Speaker, there are 298 fewer jobs in Bermuda than there were a year ago; jobs were lost in nine out of the 14 economic activity groups, including international business. Every year since the OBA came into office, there have been fewer jobs in Bermuda than the year before. The Mi nister is keen to point out that jobs are …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
86 words
Mr. Speaker, when asked about my initial comments on the Budget by the media, I stated that I felt as though if it was vindication. Mr. Speaker, it seems as though the Min ister of Finance finally read the Progressive Labour Party’s Reply to the 2013 and 2014 Budget Statements. And I say that because many of the items which …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
771 words
Last week, the Minister unveiled a budget that increased taxes, increased current account spending, increased capital spending and i ncreased debt. Current account expenditure budgeted at $921 m illion is higher than last year’s budgeted fi gures, even when the expenses for the aircraft and shipping registries have been removed from the Budget. Without the transfer of those two depar …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
82 words
Mr. Speaker, the price of the Mi nister’s poor decision- making over the past three years is th e across -the-board tax hikes he unveiled last week. His new taxes mean that electricity bills will i ncrease, the price at the pump will increase, licensing your car will cost more, tourists will pay more for hotel rooms and alcohol, and …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
320 words
In 2014, we stated that Bermuda must transition from deriving a large chunk of our revenue from employment taxes to gaining a larger share of our reve nue from consumption taxes on goods and services. Back then, we stated the ec onomic case for this change: Payroll taxes can depress employment. It came from the fact that in taxing the …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
256 words
Mr. Speaker, since coming to office, the OBA have added $1 billion to the national debt. In an interesting move, the Minister came up with a new chart to show his progress in reducing the deficit. In describing his chart, he said, “This graph shows the year -over-year percentage change in public debt levels. Clearly, between 2008 and 2012, the …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
202 words
Mr. Speaker, in 2014, the Pr ogressive Labour Party laid out a path to a balanced budget that focused on making the right investments to boost economic growth, while reducing and then freezing government spending. The additional inves tments were in education, training, alternative energy, tourism, infrastructure development, and investments in technology to make government more efficient. We also called …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
129 words
Mr. Speaker, in 2013, the Minister called for the examination of our system of taxation. At that time, we were told by the Minister of Finance that you do not change your tax system when your economy is weak. Three years later, very few would argue that our economy is strong, but the Minister of F inance again has belatedly …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
158 words
Mr. Speaker, in the introduction to his Statement, the Minister made the following decl a-ration: “We will make this happen by broaden ing the tax base, and doing so through progressive measures that require more from those who earn more.” Though the Minister’s Statement was short on specifics, he outlined broad themes such as making the payroll tax structure more …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
115 words
Last week, the Minister signalled his intention to introduce a general services tax at a rate of 5 per cent. The PLP has advocated broadening the tax base since 2014 and will wait to hear more details about thi s proposal. We do caution that it is unlikely that this tax can be implemented in a year. We do, however, …
26 Feb 2016 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
57 words
Mr. Speaker, I have risen to my feet many times in this Chamber and have held n umerous town hall meetings and PAC [Public Accounts Committee] hearings regarding the new airport term inal. This is a project that the Minister of Finance has committed the country to, and nonetheless, there is a shacking lock [sic] — [Laughter]