---

As we settle in for the long wait, to see what the Privy Council decide, we shouldn't be twiddling our thumbs.

There's work to be done - and if only we'd done this work a long time ago, this mess would never have happened. We need to systematically create greater openness and accountability in Government - the only sure way of preventing corruption and misuse of power, and exposing it when it occurs. We need to strengthen, not weaken, independent watchdogs like the Auditor General's Office and the Office of the Ombudsman - who should be allowed to handle complaints about Cabinet Ministers as well as other aspects of Government. Remember, the kinds of complaints people bring to an ombudsman - that they are being given the run-around, for example, or not treated fairly - are sometimes symptoms of corruption.

We need to require far greater disclosure of MPs, on disclosing assets, liabilities, all financial dealings.

These requirements need to be especially stringent - and stringently enforced - for Cabinet Ministers. Any sudden, unexplained wealth needs to be apparent. More stringent reporting of conflict of MPs' interests. Conflicts of interest cannot possibly be avoided on a small island like this - but they need to be publicly known so we can be sure that our MPs are acting in the country's interest, not somebody else's.

For the same reason, real disclosure of campaign contributions is needed. There needs to be a limit on how much one individual or organization can give, to try and limit the influence they can exert.

There needs to be a clear Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament. These basic standards of behaviour are needed not only to protect the public but to make decisions clearer for MPs themselves. We need a common agreement on what kinds of behaviour and activities are acceptable for MPs.

We need a "Sunshine Law", guaranteeing that all meetings of public bodies are open to the public, except in the rare cases when there is a legitimate and pressing need for confidentiality. A Freedom of Information law needs to be passed, establishing that all Government information is open and accessible to the public, with only a handful of specific exceptions for things like personnel issues. Public suspicion flourishes when Government acts behind closed doors and rightfully so: That is where corruption and abuse flourish too.

Whistleblowers need protection. People who expose wrongdoing need clear and significant protection from retaliation; good honest government cannot be guaranteed without them.

More generally, Government workers need to be free to speak openly and honestly about what goes on in Government. The tradition of obedient silence needs to end, for the good of the country. The discretionary powers of Ministers needs to be eliminated. Things like planning appeals, work permit appeals, the ejection of undesirable foreigners from the island - all these and more need to be handled in an impartial, systematic way.

To avoid corruption, favouritism, or arbitrary decision-making - whether real or perceived - it is important that Ministers set overall policy but keep clear of deciding the outcome of specific individual cases. And the public needs to know that decisions are based on clear and publicly-stated criteria. We need open public bidding on all but the smallest of Government contracts. The whole process - from request or proposal to the process of the final decision - laid out in the open for public scrutiny.

Open spending

Indeed, all Government procurement needs to be completely open. An impartial oversight committee is needed to ensure that honesty and transparency prevails, even when open contract bidding is not appropriate. The public - and Members of Parliament - need to be educated on what corruption is.

In particular, they need to recognize that it's not just a bribe exchanged for a favour, but that all kinds of favouritism and bias - whether induced by the exchange of cash, assorted "old boy networks" and racial discrimination - are forms of corruption too.

These measures to counteract corruption are not paranoid, but basic good government as practiced in modern democracies. They would be burdensome, to be sure, but not nearly so burdensome as it is to govern without them.

The BHC scandal and its continuing aftermath are reminders of how badly they are needed in Bermuda. Had they been in place, the original scandal would almost certainly have been avoided completely.

But if it had taken place, the abuse and corruption would have been exposed and dealt with far more quickly.

Instead, we find ourselves where we are today.

The depth of corruption is impossible for me to determine.

But the suspicion - the conviction or fear that corruption is a problem is easy to see. It is genuine, and it runs extremely deep. The problem is compounded many times over by the stark racial divide and partisan animosity that is a large part of Bermuda politics.

This climate of suspicion undoubtedly leads to false attacks and accusations of wrongdoing.

But it also means legitimate criticism is dismissed as racial or political, and problems are denied instead of corrected.

At some point, we owe it to ourselves and our country to break this self-destructive cycle.

But it is impossible to see how we can do this - how we can guarantee good government and conquer generations of fear and suspicion - without making these changes.

Until we do, appeals courts and privy councils can make a million rulings, leakers can leak everything any government ever said or did, and premiers can deny absolutely everything. But we'll still be in the same sorry, suspicious state we are in today.[[In-content Ad]]

---