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Rolfe Commissiong

938
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20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
1 words
Supplementary.
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
22 words
Thank you, Mr. S peaker. Will the Minister not concede that these r eforms can have a beneficial impact on our economy?
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
325 words
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Bermuda House of Assembly I just want to take some time here to send congratulations to young— well, he is younger than I am—Fitzgerald Richardson. He is a constituent of mine. He is a former Westgate inmate who is just about to complete a course to become an assistant nurse, or a nurse’s aide. And his …
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
84 words
Thank you, Mr. Speaker . I would remind the Opposition Leader that the recommendation is to form a commission that will deal with the whole question of tax reform. Secondly, on the issue of income, passive income, as outlined by the Junior Minister of Finance . . . I am sure she is aware that we have at least one …
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
490 words
I mean, let us stop being naïve. Tax systems from time [immemorial] have been about the redistribution of income and wealth. So the question is then, where do you draw the line? And how is that informed not only by political calculations but also by even issues of morality, to be honest about it? In Bermuda we have had a …
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
73 words
That is my point. Now, Mr. Speaker , I took a look at the CARTAC document, and there is a lot to be commended here. But where we can fault them is that they decided not to do what we are doing by the formation of a Tax [Reform] Commission. They did not release this Report; and if they had …
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
47 words
On page . . . the other di fference is this —and they can make of it what they want. On page 6 in the Executive Summary, CARTAC (being the Regional Caribbean arm of the IMF), on page 6, I quote with your permission, Mr. Speaker —
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
810 words
It says that the “ Authorities prefer a tax reform that will increase the revenue pr ovided by the existing taxes though they are open to proposals that would expand the tax base and i mprove equity. They do not want to increase the size of the tax administration but rather improve its efficiency and simplify compliance. Therefore, they rule …
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
853 words
That is when you know it is really bad. I am not talking about our young people with two or three degrees that go to work over there for a couple of years. I am not talking about that. I am talking about Bermudians, largely without a college degree, coming from low -income families in Berm uda—black Bermudians in the …
20 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
66 words
I guess they are cheerin g for me as well . . . singing for me as well as the Premier. So we can get it right. And I am confident that we can if people have the moral and political commi tment to make it right, where Bermuda can truly work for all of us and not just a …
6 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
80 words
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Bermuda House of Assembly Minister, will you not concede that, with r espect to the debacle at the airport in reference to the mail s orting facility, that it represents what I would call the socialisation of losses with respect to what the Government is now on the [hook] for, as opposed to private gain? So …
6 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
17 words
Will you not concede, sir, that this appears to be the case in this instance? [Inaudible interjections]
6 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
56 words
With respect to the airport, is this an example . . . would the Minister concede that this is an example of how privatisation, as we have seen it, has resulted in the socialisation of the cost of privatisation falling on the taxpayer while the gains accrue to the developer, at the expense of the taxpayer?
6 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
522 words
Thank you, Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker . Well, it has been a fairly interesting debate thus far. It has gotten somewhat heated. I jus t will echo the condemnations by some on this side who took issue with the former Attorney General characterising, by way of interpolation, one of our Members as “a boy.” I think the history was articulated …
6 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
474 words
So, Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker , the growth of international business has certainly led to a massive growth in income inequality in Bermuda, a rise (some would say ruinous) in the cost of living. And along with that has produced significant and sustained levels of inflation. Let us go back to a time that Professor Mincy and his team highlighted …
6 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
60 words
Fair enough. I will say this, though. If one looks at the salaries that all of the major hotels and t he satellite industry around the restaurants are paying, I do not think anyone could claim that these people are being highly paid by any stretch of a measure. I do not think so. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Point —
6 Oct 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
650 words
But yet these people act ually live in Bermuda. And if we are going to continue to have an industry that reaches a point where they are going to pay essentially by Bermuda standards poverty level wages, then we need to have a rethink. The other day (without going down the road of reflection) I talked about how when Bermuda …
29 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
197 words
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Raynor and Burrows families are jointly mourning today. Firstly, I would like to offer condolences to the family of Tyrone McDonald Ra ynor, from the Mount Hill Raynors, and particularly his lovely wife, Heather. He was a constituent of mine. It was extraordinary, Mr. Speaker, because during the funeral at the First Church …
29 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
3,980 words
Thank you, Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker , for your indulgence here. I am just trying to get myself together. Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker , on the 15th of September 2017, I gave notice that, at the next day of meeting, I propos ed to move the following motion: “WHEREAS it is acknowledged that the i ncreasing maldistribution of national income …
29 Sep 2017 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report
1,246 words
I agree. I agree. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: —in order that we can reach a conclusion on this matter in an expeditious manner. Mr. Deputy Speaker , there are times when work is done and the results thereof find their way on-to some shelf. And the idea comes up again and it sounds like a wonderful, great, new idea …