Focus: The Voice of the People

10 | International Union Rights | 24/3 FOCUS | FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION With Bermuda facing rising unemployment and an unequal burden of sacrifice being placed on the lowest and the least, a coalition of concerned persons including Bermuda’s unions and community groups formed the People’s Campaign for Equality, Jobs and Justice. The People’s Campaign was represented by three principals: Rev. Nicholas Tweed, Bro. Chris Furbert, President of the Bermuda Industrial Union, and myself, Jason Hayward, President of the Bermuda Public Services Union. As a group, we were concerned with the growing frustration and mistrust of the political process and the organisation provided a voice for the people during a very controversial time in our history. To raise the public’s awareness about key issues facing the island, the People’s Campaign organised a number of successful public rallies, marches and town hall meetings. The focus of these events included topics such as the economic impact of the government’s budget on its people, the need for comprehensive immigration reform, unfair banking practices and the government’s proposed precertification of medical testing for Bermuda’s healthcare system. The People’s Campaign also called for a Commission of Inquiry into the historical losses of citizens’ property through theft and/or dispossession . Additionally, we produced a monthly newsletter which focused on evaluating the effectiveness of the Government and the Opposition and organised a Youth Empowerment Symposium. In November 2014, the then Finance Minister Bob Richards announced that the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) Government had reached an agreement with the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) for the construction and financing of a new airport terminal building. CCC is a Crown corporation of the Government of Canada whose purpose is to assist Canadian businesses access foreign government procurement markets through government-to-government contracting. Given the impact that it would have on the public purse and job creation, the People’s Campaign was keenly interested in the $290m airport redevelopment project. Given our position on the importance of good governance and transparency, we were concerned with the process used to select Aecon as the contractor for the project by circumventing the Island’s tendering process. Additionally, it was felt that this project would potentially create a burden on the Government’s resources that would impede its ability to respond to the needs of vulnerable members of the public. Our concerns were also shared with the majority of the people of Bermuda, a sentiment reflected in a survey which was carried out in 2015 that revealed that 75percent of Bermudians felt it was a bad deal for Bermuda. With the support of the Bermuda Trade Union Congress, the People’s Campaign led the objections against this deal on behalf of the people of Bermuda. It is against this backdrop that I, along with my colleagues, became the primary targets of the former Government attacks. A people’s right: access to information The unwillingness of the Bermuda Government to provide the public with details on the deal brokered with CCC and Aecon led the People’s Campaign to submit an ‘Access to Information Request’ with the Canadian Government seeking access to documentation related to this project. As CCC is a Crown corporation, it is subject to the Access to Information Act which gives the public the right of access to the records of government institutions. Through this request, the People’s Campaign obtained copies of over 2000 emails related to this deal. The information contained in these emails highlighted some stark contradictions between the public statements made by MP Bob Richards versus the private exchanges made by the OBA Government, CCC and Aecon. These contradictions were most notably related to the lack of due diligence in the procurement process, transparency, misinformation and privatisation. The People’s Campaign believed that the public should have access to these emails so that they could discern for themselves whether or not our political leaders were acting in their best interest. A people’s right: freedom of speech Committed to the principles of good governance, accountability and transparency, the People’s Campaign released these documents to the public, and on 11 May 2015 held a special broadcast on a local television talk...

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