Brewer disputes ‘skewed’ results

By Andrew Clarke

(News from 2000-11-10 Edition)

THE RESULTS of a recent poll asking whether or not long-term residents should be offered full status are skewed, said Chief Immigration Officer Dr. Martin Brewer. Dr. Brewer (pictured) responded to questions from the Bermuda Sun on behalf of Labour and Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox. Dr. Brewer said the poll’s random sample did not reflect the true composition of Bermuda’s society.Closer analysis shows that black Bermudians are under-represented in the poll. The racial distribution in the poll sample was 66 per cent black followed by 33 per cent white and other’’. According to the 1991 census, the population is comprised of 72 per cent blacks and 28 per cent whites and other’’.

Pollster Walton Brown called the 1991 census data outdated. Plus, he said, the results accumulated by Dr. Brewer were within his own study’s margin of error 3.9 per cent. He said: Our polling is carried out over a period of months and predicts trends and public sentiment.When asked whether the poll’s results would change Government’s position, Dr. Brewer said: The Green Paper contains references to the option to grant Bermudian status to some categories of long-term residents, but it was also made clear that it is not Government’s preferred option.

Dr. Brewer said that despite the polarized views expressed at the public forums on long-term residents, almost 20 written responses and over 100 fact sheets have been submitted to Ms. Cox. And they have been equally passionate in their feelings, with a variety of opinions being expressed. Responses have been mixed. Not all non-Bermudians have said that they want Bermudian status. They are looking for security to reside and work in Bermuda. Some non-Bermudians write that Bermudian status would be nice but it is not essential.

Responding to criticism that not offering long-term residents voting rights would create ‘‘second-class citizens,’’ she said: The pedantic answer is that there is no such thing as a Bermudian citizen as Bermuda is not an independent country with its own citizenship law. The citizenship of Bermudians is determined by a United Kingdom Act of Parliament in which Bermuda has no say. In fact that citizenship only gives a person the right to hold a British passport. Long-term residents are being offered the privilege of working and residing in Bermuda free of immigration control and order. We are not pretending that these privileges amount to citizenship, but we do insist that these privileges are substantial and we ought to remind you that they are granted at the expense of privileges previously enjoyed exclusively by Bermudians and their spouses.