Observers are saying that the rest of the Caribbean is laughing atAnguillawhich has had its Education Bill thrown out of the House of Assembly on yet another occasion.Wednesday, July 25, was the second time that the Speaker, the Hon. Barbara Webster-Bourne, refused to allow debate on the Bill. The first time was on Tuesday, September 24, 2010.
The Bill has been the subject of several public consultations and various amendments. Up to now, however, it has not been debated in the House of Assembly although it is of urgent importance toAnguillaincluding the setting up of a TVET Council to administer technical studies.
The Bill, which was recently reviewed by the Attorney General’s Chambers and Executive Council,was further amended taking into consideration the views of members of the public as well as some members of Government. This time the draft legislation appeared to be fully ready for debate and passage in the House.
Minister of Education and Social Development, Edison Baird, previously embarrassed by the long delay in debating the Bill, was confident of its approval by the House. He therefore ensured that it was placed on the Order of Business for the parliamentary meeting on Wednesday last week, July 25. But when the meeting of the House convened, the Bill was not on the Order Paper. He therefore raised the matter with the Speaker. Following is the dialogue:
Baird: Madam Speaker, I notice that the Education Bill has not been placed on the Order Paper despite the fact that several requests were made to you to place it on the Order Paper within the time frame allowed by the rules.
Madam Speaker, I was in the Executive Council when the Chief Minister placed a call to you, but you were not in your office. He spoke to the Clerk of the House and he instructed the Clerk of the House to inform you to place the Education Bill on the agenda for the sitting of this House.
I personally called the Clerk within the time frame allowed by the rules and asked her to put it on the agenda. I personally, physically, came to the House of Assembly and requested that the Education Bill should be placed on the agenda and it has not been placed on the agenda. So I am asking you, Madam Speaker, why it is that you have refused to place the Education Bill on the agenda despite the fact that the Bill has been gazetted? The country is suffering tremendously as a result of the Bill not being passed, and I am simply asking you to explain to me, and the members of the House, why it is that you have refused to place the Bill on the agenda for today’s sitting. Thank you.
Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member for Road North. Firstly, I believe the Clerk instructed you to call me, as Speaker, because she gave you an explanation as to why the Bill could not be put on the agenda.Secondly, and more importantly, the Education Bill, as I understood, is a new Bill that has been recently gazetted – believe in May or middle of May – and it is a Bill that is 139 pages long; and since the gazetting I believe there is not a single member in this Honourable House that has seen that Bill in its entirety in its new stage – since the gazetting of that Bill. In fact, I got a copy of the Bill in the middle of the week – last week – after learning of your request, and I believe that a 139 pages of law is a lot to fathom in just a couple days; and I believe each member needed time to read and understand that 139 pages because, I don’t know – as I understand, it is a new Bill.
Baird: Madam Speaker, it is not a new Bill
Speaker: Well
Baird: Amendments were made to the
Speaker: Member, please let me finish! Please let me finish. I gave you your turn to speak. Now it is my turn. Please allow me to finish. Have there been any amendments made to that Bill? I do not know.
Baird: Have you read the Bill then?
Speaker: Please allow me my time to finish. Member, I have granted you time to speak. I would like uninterrupted time to answer, to answer, you. I am saying I do not know if there have been new amendments madeto that Bill because I have only seen that Bill – or received a copy of that Bill – in the middle of last week while we were preparing for today’s sitting. And there were other members of this House who can attest to not having seen that new Bill since its gazetting. So I do not know if there are new amendments. If there is one more change in that new Bill, then it is a new Bill; and every member must be able to have time to read through the Bill…Not a member of the public, I believe, has really seen that new Bill because
Baird: Madam Speaker, the Bill has been
Speaker: Please, member, allow me to finish. Allow me to finish. And I had instructed the Clerk to ask you to call me, or to tell you to call me, and as far as I understood you refused to call me about the same Bill. So – and—I told her not to put it on because I don’t feel that it is fair to the public to pass 139 pages of law without them having seen it
Baird: Madam Speaker
Speaker: Quite frankly, I am saying
Baird: Madam Speaker, can I just interrupt briefly? You are saying that the members of the public have not seen it. That is not true. The whole purpose of gazetting a Bill is to make it aware – is to bring its awareness to the public. It is an official document. You can’t say members of the public haven’t seen it.
Speaker: I am saying
Baird: You don’t have the authority to take the decision that more time is needed.
Speaker: Member, member, I am not saying what my authority is or is not. I am saying that the first time that I have – I am seeing this Bill was in the middle of last week; and there are members of this House who are suppose to debate that Bill that have not seen it either and they can speak to that. So I am saying that 139 pages [to be] passed into law – that’s a lot to be considered and not having seen that Bill. And, quite frankly, I will not allow that to happen so I instructed the Clerk not to put it on the agenda for this sitting. And that’s it.
Baird: May I ask, what is it that you require should be done in order for us to have this Bill passed? Because it is obvious you are delaying it. This is the second time that you have delayed this Bill
Speaker: This Bill is a new Bill.
Baird: It is not a new Bill!
Speaker: I am not going to argue with you, member. The fact is, this is the first time I am seeing this Bill. There are members of this House who have not seen it. It has recently been gazetted and I am saying give them the opportunity to do that. 139 pages are a lot and I expect that you would want the public to know what is in the new Bill. Thank you.
Baird: I rise again to emphasise the fact that the Bill has been gazetted.
Speaker: I understand that. I have explained that. You are not going to go back and forth on that. Thank you, member. Please take your seat.
