Sifting fact from political fiction

FRIDAY, OCT. 26: I am blessed to have been born and raised in the “back a tarn”. Conceived on Parson’s Road and raised on Pond Hill by inception and cultivation, I am a ‘Pond Dog’. Not exactly the area that real estate agents flock to, but definitely an area that street smart people emanate from.

One of the hallmarks of being a Pond Dog and growing by the dump is one’s ability to smell trash a mile away.

Over the last few months I have smelled a lot of OBA political trash.

Let’s take a look:

Fiction: OBA candidate C. Anthony Francis stated on Facebook: “The government has given PHC 10 mill to build its club”

Fact: the PLP government has not given PHC one dime.

Fiction: OBA members stated: “A major telecommunication company will pull its 100 mill investment out of Bermuda because of the PLP government failing to live up to promises.”

Fact: Link has just signed an agreement with the PLP government to invest tens of millions of dollars into Bermuda.

Fiction: OBA candidate Gaylenne Cannonier stated she is “angry” because the PLP’s policies caused her shop to go broke.

Fact: I don’t see how the PLP caused her business to fail; most working class Bermudians couldn’t afford her prices. Besides, OBA people “don’t vote with emotion they vote with logic”. She must be a closet PLP supporter.

Fiction: OBA candidate Scott Stewart claimed via the RG that the OBA currently has plans to turn the dump into a park.

Fact: When I challenged him to  elaborate, he admitted the OBA has no plans to show me.

Fiction: OBA candidate Alexis Swan stated on Facebook that “the government knows who is doing the shootings but refuses to do anything”.

Fact: The police are not the government and if she is indeed stating the police are doing nothing she is implying they are part and parcel of the crime. Does the OBA realize what she has implied?

Fiction: OBA MP Louise Jackson stated FutureCare is “unsustainable” and the OBA will do away with it and bring in new programme.

Fact: FutureCare is funded by five different sources. Government’s contribution is approximately 0.6 per cent of the national budget.

Fiction: OBA Leader Craig Cannonier has stated the OBA is “about all of Bermuda”.

Fact: I took an hour of my time to attend an OBA open mic  at Docksiders on Friday, December 16, 2011. I heard with my own ears Mr Cannonier state “I will not go to a local football game”. Oh really? And where was the OBA support base during Carifta? Did not our Bermudian athletes need to see all of Bermuda supporting them?

Here’s the bottom line. I am a Pond Dog .We don’t fall for catchphrases. We keep it real and we don’t hesitate to put someone in check once they start talking trash.

Welcome to the ‘hood.