SPEECH BEFORE HAMILTON ROTARY CLUB

Transcription

1 Speaker of the House SPEECH BEFORE HAMILTON ROTARY CLUB The Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, JP, MP Speaker House of Assembly Bermuda Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Paget Tuesday, 8 th October, 2013 Warmest greetings to Rotary family members in attendance this afternoon and to the listening audience. I wish at the outset to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to address such a distinguished group. I am both honoured and delighted to offer insight into the operation of our Parliament the bedrock of democracy. Friends, the principal focus of my brief address will be the Speaker s role in our changing Parliament, current Parliamentary 1

2 initiatives and the importance of raising public awareness about this hallowed institution. I had the honour of being elected by my colleagues as Speaker of the House of Assembly on 8 th February this year. As you all will be aware, the role of the Speaker is not an easy job. And I am not referring here to wearing a wig that weighs several pounds or on occasion trying to keep Members awake and debate alive at 3:00 a.m.! To state that the responsibilities entrusted to the Speaker are onerous would be an understatement in the extreme. The Speaker is oftentimes viewed as the true guardian of the traditions of parliamentary democracy. He is the chief officer and highest authority of the House of Assembly. To ensure the orderly flow of business, parliamentary rules and traditions, both written and unwritten, are observed. It is the Speaker's duty to interpret these rules impartially, to maintain order and to defend the rights and privileges of Members of Parliament. To preserve the trust of the House, the Speaker's actions must be impartial. Consequently, the Speaker never participates in debate, only votes in case of a tie and works to balance the right of the Government to transact business in an orderly manner and the right of all Members to be heard in debate. 2

3 The Speaker is probably best known as the person who keeps order and calls MPs to speak during House debates. He has full authority to ensure that MPs obey the Rules of the House (Standing Orders) during debates and follow the correct procedures. Specifically, the Speaker has the authority to: direct an MP to withdraw remarks if, for example, abusive or profane or other unparliamentary language is used [happily, a very rare occurrence in Bermuda!] suspend MPs who are deliberately disobedient [again, a very rare occurrence in Bermuda] ask or instruct MPs to be quiet so that Members can be heard [alas, the Speaker of Bermuda s House of Assembly finds himself much too busy in this regard!] and suspend the House if there is serious disorder. In order to assist in the discharge of his duties, the Speaker enjoys the support and advice of the principal officers of the House, namely the Clerk to the Legislature, the Deputy Clerk and the Sergeant-at-Arms, all of whom are very knowledgeable in their jobs. Additionally, the Speaker liaises on a regular basis with fellow Speakers in the Caribbean area and elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Early during my tenure as 3

4 Speaker, I was privileged to visit with Speaker John Bercow of the House of Commons and with other UK Parliamentarians at Westminster. I was also able to observe the daily operation of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords an invaluable learning experience indeed! Just last month, I learned so much during my meetings with the Hon. Max Sisulu, Speaker of the National Assembly, Republic of South Africa, other Commonwealths Speakers and other Members of the Legislature during my attendance at the Annual Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association that was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Here in Bermuda, the Speaker is required to convey messages and addresses from the Senate and from the House of Assembly to His Excellency the Governor. As I indicated earlier, the neutrality of the Speaker is essential in maintaining the independence of Parliament. Therefore, while he or she must be politically impartial and cannot be involved in the political activity of any party, but must remain separate from political issues, the Speaker, an elected Parliamentarian, is still required to deal with constituent problems like any other Member of Parliament. As the Member of Parliament for Constituency 32, I continue to receive calls from constituents, visit constituents and hold constituency clinics when members of constituency can express concerns or make suggestions regarding matters affecting the area. 4

5 Let me comment briefly upon the background against which our Parliament/Legislature has been developed. Bermuda has the second oldest Parliament in the western hemisphere and with that there are particular strengths and weaknesses. Ours is a bi-cameral Legislature, exercising parallel functions to those of the House of Commons and the House of Lords in the UK. Our Parliament first met in 1620 at St. Peter s Church in St. George s and is currently housed in a building which began as a simply two-storey edifice in the year Although our building is very attractive, Members of Parliament eagerly look to the day when major and much-needed infrastructure improvements will be effected. Bermuda s Parliament is fashioned from our colonial heritage. However, democracies world-wide are continually evolving and with buzzwords such as good-governance, accountability and transparency bandied about on a regular basis in the media and in parliamentary literature, our community rightly expects more and more from their Parliamentarians. Increasingly, developing knowledge-based and technology driven societies throughout the world have placed Legislatures under intense scrutiny. Bermuda s Parliament is no exception in this regard. We must, therefore, bring our Parliament in line with current international standards. We must adjust to a new paradigm shift if we want to be effective in the 21 st century. 5

6 To do that, it is important to understand Parliament s function. Parliament is responsible for approving and changing the country's laws and scrutinizing the Executive, that is the Premier and Cabinet, by holding it accountable, including controlling Government expenditure and evaluating public policy. The Legislature should consistently keep an eye on the work of Government to ensure that it is doing a good job. Bermuda s Parliamentarians, like those elsewhere in the world where parliamentary democracy obtains, must strive to raise the bar and improve the standards and level of parliamentary service. But how is this achieved? Last year, the House of Assembly agreed to adopt the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Benchmarks which were formulated by a study group consisting of the World Bank and CPA. Measuring parliamentary effectiveness is a new venture which most Commonwealth Parliaments are undertaking. My vision as Speaker is to see Parliament established separate and independent of the Executive (including Government Ministries). Far too often, the public perception is that Parliament is an extension of the Government. Of course, it is not. Instead, it is a distinct entity which must perform its mandate as set out in the Constitution. The message must be loud and clear that the three separate branches of government, that is, the Legislature (Parliament), the Judiciary and the Executive, should operate 6

7 independently of each other. Separation of powers is one of the values and principles of the Commonwealth global village and it has recently been affirmed by the heads of Commonwealth Governments. However, as stated by Justice Charles Mkandawire, Regional VP of the Commonwealth's Magistrates and Judges Association of East, Central and Southern Africa, "There is a great need to practice complementarity amongst the key branches of government. The separation of powers and complementarity requires practical adherence within the organs of government, which must be characterised by checks and balances and adherence to the rule of law. Benchmark of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Benchmarks states: There shall be established a parliamentary corporate board by legislation that shall be responsible for the management of the Legislature. I am pleased to inform Rotarians that a Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary governance and reform has been appointed to examine the management structure and governance of our Parliament. Amongst other things, the Committee will examine and investigate the establishment of a Commission to manage Parliament. It is of immense importance that we have our own independent corporate structure. 7

8 Committees are essential to the running of Parliament as they provide a mechanism to obtain information from the Executive and/or the public. The well-known Public Accounts Committee provides meaningful opportunities for backbenchers to engage in effective oversight of Government expenditures. As Speaker, I wish to see an improvement in our Committee system. Committees can and should be doing more by being more forceful in holding the Executive accountable. Equally, I would like to see more backbench participation and involvement in various Select Committees. A Select Committee on Elections has been recently formed: its mandate is to review matters relating to elections, to report its findings and to make recommendations to Parliament. There has also been a motion approved to set up a Joint Select Committee to develop and implement a drug policy for Parliament. I am a firm believer that Committees serve an excellent role in not only holding the Executive to account, but by providing MPs more opportunity drill down on issues affecting our community. Such Committees also give the people an opportunity to question or have their say on matters. In this regard, I wish to state that I was very impressed with the manner in which MPs from both sides of the floor worked together for the benefit of Bermuda on the Joint Select Committee that looked into the causes of Crime and Gun Violence, a process that involved some 47 public presentations. 8

9 One of the most important features of parliamentary accountability is the popular Question Period. A recently introduced change in the Question Period has proven to be effective. Members are now able to ask oral questions following Ministers Statements. As you will know, this part of the proceedings can be very lively and contentious. I wish to see in the near future the introduction of Premier s Question Period similar to that of Prime Minister s Question Period at the UK House of Commons. I wish also to provide Members of Parliament with the opportunity to question Ministers regarding their portfolios. Currently, Ministers can be subjected to questions from other Members of the House of Assembly only following a Ministerial Statement. As part of our modernization procedures, Bermuda launched the first official Hansard of the House of Assembly in This is a digital parliamentary recording system which captures Members verbatim speeches. The public can access the Hansard on our Parliament website at The public can also listen to our proceedings which are streamed on our website. The use of technology during proceedings of the House or in Committee is also allowed. It is now common practice for Members to use their laptops, computers, I-pads and cell phones for the purpose of making presentations, taking notes or liaising with their constituents. 9

10 It is important for the Legislature to be more accessible to its citizens. To facilitate a greater degree of accessibility, our MP s now have individual parliamentary (parliament.bm) addresses so that they can interact more easily with their constituents. Additionally, via the website the public is able to gain easy access to what's happening in Parliament, MPs bios, Bills, Order Papers, Speeches and Ministerial Statements and Reports. Our very active Youth Parliament meets every Wednesday in the main chamber of the House of Assembly. During the past Legislative Year, the Youth Parliament has held many debates on a variety of topics: conscription, the incorporation of sexual orientation in the Human Rights Act, the relaxation of uniforms in Bermuda s schools and the illegality of gang membership and legislation to control the tattooing and piercing of body parts. Currently, the Youth Parliament is preparing for a debate on the EEZ (Marine Reserve) which has been in the news recently. Many of our truly exemplary Youth Parliamentarians have aspirations of becoming future parliamentarians. We must continue to educate our community on Parliament s role, as there are some who do not understand what occurs Up on the Hill. Generally, the public s perception of parliamentarians is not favourable. I am confident that this perception will improve over time as we find innovative ways to educate and connect with the people. I have every 10

11 intention to visit schools and community groups to spread the word about these important new changes at Parliament. Before I close, let me reiterate that the need for checks and balances within our parliamentary system and to assert again that the separation of powers is important for a healthy democracy. Autonomy is needed in order to function effectively. As we move into the future, I envision: a progressive Parliament with an invigorated committee structure, holding the Executive to account, empowering backbenchers and providing better access for the public. a Premier's Question Period a Minister's Question Period Full use of the Parliament Building so that the public can have private access to MPs for meetings Televised House of Assembly proceedings increased information and communication technology which can be rewarded with greater participation, accountability and representation among citizens. 11

12 Of course, I am cognizant that our current economic climate mitigates against the introduction of some of these initiatives, but we must keep them in sight. I cite here the words of Justice Charles Mkandawire: "Even though the three branches of governance need to have separate and complementary functions and roles, the ultimate focus should not be on power, but on how best we serve the people". Most importantly, during my tenure as Speaker I wish to see a higher level of Parliamentary debate and consistent unwavering scrutiny of the Parliamentary process in order to ensure that the community gets the best possible return on its investment. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to be remembered as a Speaker under whose leadership the operation of the House of Assembly consistently attained the standard excellence in Members general deportment, in the standard of debate and in the quality of legislation enacted. But I don t wish to be a monument for, as Scottish-born Canadian politician Tommy Douglas once wrote: There are monuments all over the Parliament Buildings and I've seen what the pigeons do to them. Thanks for listening. 12