Against the backdrop of this debate there are other issues of a social and community nature which are front burner issues for the mainstream of the community. These include the following: housing issues, education reform, literacy issues, prison reform issues, drugs, violence, labour legislation issues, the provision of youth and sports facilities, financial services regulations, the expansion of an enterprise culture, training, e-commerce issues, a restructure of the Bermuda Regiment, the continued succession planning of the Bermuda Police Service and the review of the practices, processes and policies of the Immigration Department.

The thorny issue of the subject of long-term residents is difficult to separate from the whole issue of immigration policies. What has become very evident in the four Government sponsored long-term residents' meetings is how the two issues are seen to be inextricably linked. The point is that immigration policy, at least in people's perception, is very much seen as linked (the flip side of the coin) to the whole issue of long-term residents. I should also note that, in canvassing white and black residents before the November 1998 General Election, I found that, across the board, immigration was the number one issue. It was the number one concern raised by the voting public and one which the electorate felt had to be dealt with. Immigration was followed a close second by the concern with the drugs issue. It is therefore not surprising that the public meetings were very heavily supported by the majority Bermudian population. It is apparent that Bermudians believe that their voices will and must be heard as they believe that they have a very real stake in the outcome of the deliberations and policy decisions.

They are right.

The challenge is to ensure that we have in our thinking struck the right balance and that the range of options is not only fair, just and equitable - it is the right thing to do. The policy task is to harmonise, as far as possible, the hopes of people to become Bermudians by the grant of that status with the right of the local community, as an aggregate, to sustain itself, to maintain its essential character and to meet the needs of the people.

We know the personal dilemmas for those who have felt that to all intents and purposes that Bermuda has become their home. However the objective criteria are that the reality is Bermuda is 21 square miles. We have a population of about 60 odd thousand. There is no viable land reclamation project or ability in any real feasible sense to grow the Island physically. There are some constraints. We also have as a Government to manage the legitimate expectations of Bermudians that includes those who are Bermudian from birth and those who have already gained Bermudian status by grant.

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The press reported that the number one issue in the 1998 election was Crime and Safety. Immigration is an important issue but to what extent did she canvass white voters as well as black. She represents a predominately black constituency.

What is meant by "the majority Bermudian population"?
We think that the Minister uses this as a euphemism for black Bermudians which make up more than 70% of Bermuda's voting population. Although the majority of those who attended the public forums were black, this in no way certifies support from the general voting population for the Government's position. In fact, following the four public meetings, a poll was conducted for the Bermuda Sun by staunch Government supporter Walton Brown which showed that more than 50% of the Bermuda's voting population supported the granting of full citizenship rights to Long Term Residents. Slightly more than 42% supported the Government's position. The poll could not have achieved that result without a significant proportion of "the majority Bermudian population" -i.e., black Bermudians--supporting the granting of citizenship rights to Bermuda's Long Term Residents.
Furthermore, the Minister was entirely solicitous of her own supporters in these meetings to the extent that she allowed anyone who was white or thought to be supportive of Long Term Residents to be heckled and jeered at. Few Long Term Residents spoke out for fear of reprisals. Several Bermudian children of Long Term Residents and one Long Term Resident of more than 20 years attempted to speak at the third meeting at Sandy's. After enduring continuous verbal abuse whilst they attempted to speak, the Minister in her closing arguments told them "not to pull on the heart strings."

The Minister's handling of these meetings was entirely prejudicial and discriminatory