Speeches by Dr. Douglas De Couto, JP, MP

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

44 words

Thank you, Madam President, and thank you to the Junior Minister for that detailed response, which I think many people will find quite informative. I do have two or three follow -up questions if I may, Madam President? The President: Yes, you may. SUPPLEMENTARIES

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

41 words

Thank you, Senator Robinson, for describing the kind of structure of the contract. You made reference to a board in your answer to question 1. Could you please clarify which board that is? Sen. Leslie Robinson: Is that the only question?

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

97 words

Oh, no. Then my second question would be with respect to the financing, which is, Why was the financing delayed or not put in place with ample time to make the payments? Which in a way, you know, I understand most projects like this, we would have a prett y good sense of what activity would happen in what time …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

541 words

No. Those are my two questions, Madam President. The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto. Sen. Leslie Robinson: Okay. I am going to just reiterate the first part of my answer to question 1, which will hopefully answer Senator De Couto’s first question. The contract for the Bermudiana project is between Bermudiana Development Company Ltd. (BDCL) and BCM Construction Company …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

1,702 words

Thank you, Madam President. It is just a comment. I really enjoyed this event last year with my family and would encourage everyone to make it out. And I think it might be useful to reiterate that it has been rescheduled. The Minister did take care to emphasise the new date. But for those who have already put it in …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

2,584 words

Thank you, Madam President, and thank you to the Minister for bringing this Bill to the Senate. I would just like to share with the Senate and the listening public. I am currently the Chairman of the National Museum of Bermuda. And we have the potential of having discussions with potential operators who might take advantage of this. There are …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

507 words

Thank you, Madam President. And thank you to the Minister for bringing this Bill forward. It is very important that we are up to date with various international standards and that we are able to offer people the same kind of facilities and capabilities that they might find in other jurisdictions. So I want to thank the Government for doing …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

1,092 words

No. They were just general comments. Thank you, Senator. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Okay. Thank you very much, Madam President. With that said, I move that the Bill entitled the Trade Marks Act 2023 be now read a second time. The President: Is there any objection to the second reading? No objection. SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26 Sen. the …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

1,086 words

Thank you, Madam President. We support this and recognise the importance of it for carrying out the modernisation and ensuring the good order in our trade mark regime here in Bermuda. Thank you. The President: Thank you. Would any other Senator care to speak on this Bill? Hearing none, then it is back to you, Minister. You have got full …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

282 words

Thank you, Madam President. And thank you to the Minister for the presenta-tion. I want to make sure I am understanding something that he said, and it is around the financial impact of the changes for our budget. I will say my understanding, and perhaps the Minister can correct me if I have misstated. What I think I heard was …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

22 words

You mentioned that the UK experience was that the new laws would increase registrations. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Ah, yes. Yes.

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

179 words

Would that be a one- time bump or would that be a continued increase? Thank you. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: All right. I believe I have an understanding on what that may be. However, I do not want to speak out of turn. So I just am awaiting the technical officers as they are producing that response for me. …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

1,271 words

Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam President. The President: Thank you, Senator. And those were the only questions. So you can proceed. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President. I move that the said draft Regulations be approved and that the following message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor: May it please Your Excellency: The …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

304 words

Thank you, Madam President. Like my colleague, I certainly appreciate seeing this Bill. If you recall when we had the minimum wage discussions, the debates, one of the Opposition points was that we felt that it should come along with something to protect the workers’ tips and gratui ties. So we are glad to see this make its appearance. I …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

34 words

Point of order, Madam President. Point of order. The President: Senator De Couto, what is your point of order? 622 4 October 2023 Official Hansard Report Bermuda Senate POINT OF ORDER [Imputing improper motives]

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

607 words

The Minister is imputing improper motives, Madam President. I am not attempting to throw shade. I am attempting to elicit information for the general public. Thank you, Madam President. The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: And as I stated before clearly, the Senator knew exactly what he was doing. So I would like to …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

40 words

Yes, Madam President. Thank you, Senator Robinson. With respect to some people’s concerns about my questions, I think we got quite a reasonable answer that will prove useful to people. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, if I may.

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

107 words

Excuse me. Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Point of order. The President: Minister, what is your point of order? POINT OF ORDER [Standing Order 26 –Debating the principle of a Bill ] B ermuda Senate Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Do the Standing Orders allow Senator De Couto to speak again after he has spoken? Because it sounds like he …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

1,897 words

It was following up on the question about the placement of the tips. It would be great if the Government would perhaps provide some quite explicit guidance to establishments so patrons of establishments could be quite certain as to where their tip money was going. For example, would you like to tip really specifically a person who served you versus …

4 Oct 2023 Senate

Official Hansard Report - Senate

11 words

Point of order, Madam President. Point of order. POINT OF ORDER