ARMISTICE DAY
Today is marked around the world as Armistice Day.  I want to use this occasion to thank and remember the veterans of the wars that helped to keep this country free.  Today, is the day that marked the end of what is known as the Great War, the War to end all Wars and to us in the younger generation as World War I.  On Sunday last, we marked the formal occasion by Remembrance Sunday.  I would recommend to your younger people that they go and visit the Nassau Public Library where you can see the pictures of the young men who left this country to fight in Europe in the First World War, one of whom was a grand uncle of mine by marriage.  These men and women of both wars are passing or have passed from the scene and it is important that we remember them and their sacrifices to preserve the society that we now enjoy today.  I also think that greater efforts must be made by the government to make these observances more relevant to today’s society.  One way we can do this is by ensuring that we honour in particular on the occasion of Remembrance Day the four young men who died within six weeks of the founding of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force on 10th May 1980 when their ship the HMBS Flamingo was sunk by Cuban fighter jets.  The names of those four men are Edward Williams, Fenrick Stirrup, Austin Smith and David Tucker.

THE SENATE CASE
The main purpose of calling this conference is the fact of the decision by the Chief Justice Burton Hall on the distribution of seats in the Senate.  I have an interest in this matter because I once served as a Senator from 1992 to 1997 as a Senator under Article 39 (4) of the Constitution.  I want to thank Paul Adderley, the former Attorney General for his extraordinary service to our country and our party in seeking to elucidate this issue.  Congratulations also to the Leader of the Opposition and former Prime Minister for having the tenacity to stick to his guns in this matter.  The result is that we now have some legal guidance on what is supposed to happen with regard to the appointment of the three senators.  I agree with Damien Gomez who also worked on the case that the remaining Senator appointed under 39(4) Tanya Wright must consider her position.  The Judge clearly indicates that no one who is subject to the FNM whip can serve in that seat.  The Prime Minister must be guided by the principles of the judgment and he cannot act willy nilly to appoint whom he wants.  In my own experience in 1992 when the negotiations were being conducted between myself and the FNM, it was clear then that the Leaders of the FNM believed that article 39(4) was of a different character from the seats under the other provisions of Article 39 and in fact I served as an independent and without any party affiliation during that time I served in the Senate.  When I rejoined the PLP in 1997, that position changed and I resigned.

OBAMA’S ELECTION AND FOREIGN TRADE
First, I want to congratulate the new President elect of the United States Barack Obama.  Most Bahamians were ecstatic and welcomed the election.  I was in Washington for the election result and stood in front of the White House after the results were known.  There has been some concern expressed in the local community about the policies of the new administration with regard to the financial services sector in The Bahamas.  I think that while we should not be lax, we should not be overly anxious either.  Trade conditions change from time to time.  The question is whether we are able to respond to those exchanges.  I decry the nay saying about this issue.  The sector and the government have an obligation to ensure that we respond to any changes and that we seek to persuade the governments concerned about the rightness of our position.  We cannot simply sit idly by and complain.  Tax competition is an honest enterprise.  The fact is that the financial services sector in our country helps with the capital accumulation in developed societies.  The monies are eventually appreciated and help to develop those societies. That is the case that has to be made.  The government and the sector here should now be seeking contacts with the new administration to see what we can do to aid and protect our sector.

THE PRIME MINISTER’S STATEMENT ON THE ECONOMY
The statement was a disappointment because it offered no hope.  The Prime Minister too often has this habit of acting as if he is a university professor seeking to describe an economic condition without accepting any responsibility for correcting the problems that he decries.  He offered no formulas for the future.  There was no call for bipartisanship.  He simply said, we will wait and see.  This is a grave disappointment.  The only new policy initiative was that of the unemployment assistance.  Even this seems ill thought out.  The legality of his tapping into national insurance funds and the propriety of doing so must be carefully examined.
The Leader of The Opposition is to issue a formal statement later this afternoon in response to the Prime Minister.