Cleaning up old files stirs so many memories. Often they're bad ones though.

The following letter to the editor from 2001 suggests there is very little new under the sun as the VAT Bill has gone underground.

In fact I think it proves successive governments do not really want transparency.

They pat us on the back and say, don't worry little guy, we're taking care of things for you.

What a fine mess we've allowed them to get us into.

July 8, 2001.

Letter to the Editor

Re: The FNM & BECon Version of Transparency

The watchword of the FNM since at least 1982 was accountability to the electorate. In many public protests, while the Official Opposition, the FNM attempted to hold the PLP to a higher standard. One of these standards was to ensure that pending legislation was not negotiated behind closed doors, but should be exposed to public opinion, or the “sunshine.”

This position was again postulated in the party’s Holy Grail, “Manifesto 1992” which states the FNM would “Circulate simplified drafts of pending legislation to stimulate public discussion.”

This statement satisfied many Bahamian’s that legislation would be circulated in earnest and the points in contention would receive a thorough public airing before draft bills were presented to the House of Assembly for debate and passing. Following are two examples that would suggest that practice is different than the stated policy.

• The Financial Legislation

In this case, it is understood that the Association of International Banks and Trust Companies (AIBT) and the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) were convinced by the “powers that be” of the urgency of getting this legislation forced through the House of Assembly in the shortest possible time.

To accomplish this, the AIBT and the BFSB hired an attorney to represent them. However, they agreed that the attorney could not tell them what was being negotiated directly with the Prime Minister.

In summary, there were logical arguments put forward by groups outside the bodies mentioned that were buried. Now the Government has found itself in the embarrassing position of having to amend the legislation to correct many of the issues that were raised but ignored.

• The Labour Bills

While the five labour bills have received wider circulation as a result of the Coalition of Private Sector Employers who also circulated many of the contentious issues from the perspectives of various sectors, the outcome is not very different than the Financial Legislation.

There was tremendous effort expended on preparing and circulating sensible and reasonable arguments for amending much of the legislation. Unfortunately, discussion on the bills was set aside while the Prime Minister dealt with the Financial Blacklisting.

Since then, there has been no effort made to reinstate the Coalition of Private Sector Employers and the Bahamas Employers Confederation (BECon) has assumed the role of negotiator on behalf of employers with the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, at a meeting held to reorganise BECon on Tuesday, July 3, 2001, those present were informed that the leadership had agreed with the Prime Minister not to publicly state BECon’s opposition to the bills, or their content, as the Prime Minister had promised them some amendments.

Also at this meeting last Tuesday were representative’s from each of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), who indicated it is possible our government is stretching the point when they suggest that the ILO is forcing some of the legislation now before us. While they agreed that they want governments to live up to their obligations when they sign on to the Conventions of the ILO, they should not blame the ILO for writing the clauses of the legislation. In fact they suggested that governments often write legislation based on their “interpretation” of the Conventions…not necessarily considering the intent of the drafters of the Convention.

One of these Conventions is the now infamous number 87, which is in fact an agreement regarding “Freedom of Association” and encourages governments to “respect the choice of the individual to join a union.” However, the law “also needs to accommodate the right not to associate” as indicated by the ILO and IOE representatives.

• A Triumvirate and a Pity

So while we were all busy paying our BECon dues and state taxes, the Government, the BECon leadership and the Unions, were involved in a triumvirate to negotiate away a few more of our freedoms. A dangerous precedent when we consider that only 18,000 people from a workforce of 167,000 are said to be union members, and a high percentage of which comprises government employees.

The net effect of this is the Prime Minister can say to the world that he negotiated with the representatives of the employers and the workers while living up to our Country’s commitment under the ILO Conventions as “required.” We now all know that it has been a charade and makes a mockery of the FNM’s pledge to be accountable and have government in the sunshine.

However, such arbitrary use of government’s coercive power and the presumptive action taken by the parties involved is regrettable and one must wonder what is in store for employers that cannot be openly discussed.

The government encourages us to believe they are servants of the people. Actions such as those outlined above indicate this is obviously not the case, even though Members of Parliament are elected to serve the people and are well paid for their services from tax revenue.

The scenarios outlined are a real pity, and are a serious blight on a governing party that had such good intentions and has done much to encourage prosperity yet now chooses to do its work in the dark.

Yours in Liberty,

Rick Lowe