 I am Lisa Joseph and this morning Thursday, March 10, 2022, we're just moments away from the commencement of this morning's sit-in of the Senate. We will be seeing a number of papers being laid by the Honorable Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information. He's also the leader of government business, Honorable Givian Ferdinand. The Senate is also going to consider a number of bills, the Supplementary Appropriation, Domestic Violence, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement Amendment, the Customs Control and Management Agreement, Community Tourism Development, Agriculture and Fisheries Incentives Amendment and it is the intention of the Honorable Leader of Government Business to sick leave of the Senate to enable these bills to go through all their stages at this sit-in. Certainly, arguably the two bills that will be drawing much discussion in the Senate today will be the Domestic Violence Bill as well as the Community Tourism Development Bill. To let you know that for the Supplementary Appropriation, it is in the Supplementary Estimates of Expanded for the Financial Year 2021-2022. It is in the sum of $9,870,400 and it is a charge against the Consolidated Fund and other funds of the State of St. Lucia. In the lower house, the House of Assembly, on Tuesday, March 8, we did hear from the Honorable Prime Minister, Honorable Philip J. Pierre, that the Supplementary Appropriation Bill is really to be able to cover the expenses that were incurred coming out of Hurricane Elsa which struck us as a category one, a hurricane in July of 2021 and other associated expenditures unforeseen by the State. And certainly in the response package for Hurricane Elsa, it is valued at $10 million and the breakdown for that response package, the agriculture sector deserving of $5 million to cover all of the crop damage and other damage sustained by farmers, livestock farmers as well. The Ministry of Department of Infrastructure receiving $1 million in order to facilitate the cleanup of communities and the roadways. The Ministry of Department of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment receiving $3 million and of course that is to respond to the social needs of those affected by the storm and the Department of Housing receiving $1 million to assist those whose homes sustained damage as a result of Hurricane Elsa. So that's the breakdown there covering the supplementary estimates of expenditure for the financial year 2021-2022. And as I indicated, the Domestic Violence Bill will be one drawing much discussion in the Senate today as we had seen in the lower house on Tuesday, which incidentally was celebrated International Women's Day. This bill being heralded as an historic one for St. Lucia as the bill that is when enacted will be the most progressive piece of legislation addressing that scourge of domestic violence. And the Minister in the lower house, Minister of Responsibility for Gender Affairs Honourable Dr. Virginia Albert Poyutt told the lower house that annually the police receives in some 250 reports of the sexual assaults over 300 reports for physical assaults. And that's a large percentage of that occurring within households. And so this domestic violence bill is making a great allowance so that children can now come forward and report incidents of violence committed against themselves or incidents of violence within the home setting. The bill also makes provision for minors, children under the age of 18, to be dealt with themselves as offenders because, as discussed in the lower house, on Tuesday, a number of the MPs spoke to incidents where young people are perhaps abusing the elderly relatives within the home setting. And so this bill also makes provision for them to be dealt with as offenders. And it makes provision a strong provision for intervention programs. And one particular avenue of a program is the court diversion a program really dealing with young people at risk ensuring that their behaviors, their violent tendencies and would not escalate and to be an absolute threat within their society. We also heard in the lower house from the Minister for Equity, Hon. Joachim Henry, he indicated that $30 million is expended by the state annually to maintain public assistance. And 500 seniors who are abandoned annually, the government is spending $8 million to be able to take care of them. And the Minister in a very impassioned plea called on all citizens to be introspective and to take a look and see that how as an individual that we are contributing to the overall state of violence in the country, saying that families are asking the state to pay for them to care for their elderly relatives. And he's saying that that is a form of abuse, a very, very impassioned plea made by the Minister for everyone to be able to ensure that their actions are not contributing to the larger problem that we are facing in the domestic setting when it comes to domestic violence. The domestic violence bill, as you will hear once the system commences, has and which is why it's been touted as being so progressive in the region, it has now expanded the definition of what violence, what domestic violence looks like. The Minister, Hon. Virginia Albert Poirot in the lower house indicated that it is a very significant step towards combating crime in the society and that the bill is making strong provisions for the training of police officers, the training for healthcare providers, social service providers, officers as well. So it is also making a provision for the sort of social support being provided by the state to victims and perpetrators. It speaks to more forcefully on protection orders, the conditions of bail, the conduct of court proceedings, and the bill, it has been said, will have absolutely no tolerance for violence in the home breach of a protection order, ensuring that the persons who are offenders of this will be dealt with quite seriously. The act is now going to replace once enacted, it's going to bill rather, once enacted, it's going to be replacing the 27-year-old domestic violence proceedings act. And as I indicated, it is said to be progressive and for the reasons that it has been able to expand it, it is now so inclusive, it is making provisions for groups within the society who are vulnerable. And you will hear during the sitting that it is a bill that does not speak solely to women, but it also speaks to the plight of men, men who believe that they are being afflicted, those who are experiencing domestic violence, that the bill also provides protection for men and as indicated, children themselves now can come forward and the bill makes provision for them to be able to come forward and report themselves incident of domestic violence. So the bill has expanded the definition, we're looking at abuse and under the bill, abuse includes stalking and whether that be a cyber stalking or physical stalking, it also speaks to the withholding of financial support, that sort of economic abuse and it speaks to harassment and coercion. On average in St. Lucia, three women for a year die at the hands of their intimate partners and this bill is looking to be able to present such very gruesome and ghastly incidents from occurring in the society and so it has a robust and coordinated approach to the prevention of domestic violence as well as the prosecution. We can see that the sergeant's sergeant announces, gets in ready and we may be just moments away from seeing in the entrance there of the president of the senate Honourable Stanley Felix. The CTAB, we can see the leader of government business Honourable Gibin Ferdinand, next to him Honourable Senator Prosper, Honourable Senator Lisa Girahere, Honourable Senator Therese Shawnmine, Honourable Senator Alvina Reynolds, Independent Senators Honourable Daylene as well as Honourable Aziz. Let us pray. Almighty God by whom alone king reigns and princes decree justice and from whom alone comets all council, wisdom and understanding we dine on worthy servants here gathered here together in thy name do mostly humbly beseech thee to send down thy heavenly wisdom from above to direct and to guide us in all our consultations and grant that we have in thy fear always before our eyes and lean aside all private interests prejudices and partial afflictions the result of all our councils may be to the glory of thy blessed name the maintenance of true religion and justice and the safety honor and happiness of the queen the public will peace and the tranquility of st lusia and united and knitting together of the hearts of all persons and estates within the same in true christian love and charity one towards another through Jesus christ our lord amen the grace of our lord and saviour Jesus christ the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with us now and forevermore amen and amen good morning senators by way of announcement i have received correspondence from the speaker of the house of assembly advising that the following bills were passed in the house and forwarded to the senate for its concurrence supplementary estimates of expenditure for the financial year 2021 2022 supplementary appropriation domestic violence eastern caribbean central bank agreement amendment customs control and management amendment community tourism development agriculture and fisheries incentives amendments also please permit me on behalf of the senate and behalf of the parliament in general i would like to extend my sincere condolences to the family and friends of constable nathan timet and the entire royal st lusia police force and the speedy recovery to officer king in this regard may i just ask that we stand for minute of silence let me take the opportunity at this point to extend related international women's day greetings to all women of st lusia specifically and in general all women the world over senators the british high commission in collaboration with the parliament of st lusia we'll be hosting a seminar on friday march 11th to highlight commonwealth day under the theme increasing women's political participation in st lusia a parliamentary perspective the discussion will commence at 9 a.m and will be streamed live on ntn miss abrak sati who is a researcher from the swedish research council is currently in the process of conducting interviews for for a research project on the subject larger lessons from small cases understanding democracy and its everyday practice in small island nations parliamentarians will be interviewed i know i have during the period march 7th to 18th 2022 and this research project aims to increase the understanding of the political system of small island nations work in the everyday practice further on the occasion of international women's day the parliament of st lusia is pleased to announce its partnership with parlor miracles and caribbean women in leadership to host the next young women in leadership initiative st lusia will be the third caribbean parliament to host such an initiative joining the parliament of trinidad and tobago and the parliament of antiga and barbuda young women in leadership is a training program designed to support young women age 18 to 25 in building the knowledge skills and networks needed to positively impact their community and country with a focus on parliamentary engagement and promoting gender equality inclusion and respect for human rights activities will take place virtually and in person throughout mid and june 2022 including training sessions on transformational leadership gender equality and parliamentary procedure the initiative will culminate in special all women simulated parliamentary settings of of the house and senate at the end of june with program participants serving as parliamentarians and parliamentary staff in sessions focused on a gender equality theme applications are being sought from passionate and dedicated young women between the ages of 18 to 25 residing in st lusia who are interested in public leadership gender equality and human rights and are excited about opportunities for personal growth and development no previous experience is required and there is no cost to participate for selected applicants the application process is open from march 8th to april 8th 2022 further information on the program will be shared by parliament via email statements from ministers papers to be laid honorable leader of government business thank you mr president good morning members mr president before i before i proceed i beg your leave to join you in extending condolences to the family of officer timet and the st lusia russia lusia police force as well as well wishes well wishes to officer king and speedy recovery i also join the senate and all institutions in extending continued wishes of international women's day women's week women's month to all our women in this country in this senate and by extension the entire world and i wish them all the best as they continue to celebrate women i joined them in doing so i can also see that i'm one of the gender champions representing our senate and i'm proud to do so on behalf of our men um but in honor of our women uh in mr president now i would beg to leave the following papers standing in my name sanitary instrument number 10 of 2022 COVID-19 prevention and control prohibition of assembly number two order statutory instrument number 11 of 2022 COVID-19 prevention and control physical distancing number two order statutory instrument number 12 of 2022 COVID-19 prevention and control approval of test for COVID-19 and designation of laboratory order statutory instrument number 13 of 2022 COVID-19 prevention and control testing and quarantine order statutory instrument number 14 of 2022 price control amendment number two order statutory instrument number 15 of 2022 excise tax amendment of schedule number one of schedule one number two order statutory instrument number 16 of 2022 value added tax resolution of parliament to approve draft value added tax amendment of schedule three order statutory instrument number 17 of 2022 COVID-19 prevention and control physical distancing number three order statutory instrument number 18 of 2022 COVID-19 prevention and control prohibition of assembly number three order statutory instrument number 19 of 2022 value added tax amendment of schedule three order statutory instrument number 20 of 2022 appointment of the national export council order st lusia financial services regulatory authority annual report would be table here mr president and supplementary estimates of revenue of expenditure 2021 2022 bills lead of government business thank you mr president so president i beg to move for the first reading of a bill shortly entitled supplementary appropriation supplementary appropriation leader of government business sir president i beg to move for the suspension of standing order number 49 to to allow this bill to go through its remaining stages at this time the senate has the question is that standing order number 49 to be suspended in order to allow the honorable leader of government business to proceed with the remaining stages of the bill at this sitting i now put the question as many as our opinions say aye as many as our country thank you mr president so president i rise before this honorable senate present the first reading the first supplementary budget for the fiscal year 2021 2022 and to table the corresponding supplementary appropriations as required by the public finance management act number 14 of 2020 mr president the public finance management act is the authority by which the provisions for the administrative administration of public finance management are established and the act covers a number of functions of public finance management and these include the preparation of the budget the approval of the estimates of revenue and the expenditure and approval of the appropriations bill mr president section 79 3 of the constitution of st lusia cap 101 requires that the preparation and this of a supplementary estimate and this is further supported by section 34 of the public pfm act section 34 of the pfm act requires that the minister with responsibility for finance shall cause to be prepared and laid before the house of assembly supplementary estimates in a form to be determined by the minister and mr president the provision of the supplementary estimates is to cater for expenditure that was not accommodated in the appropriations law whether it be due to natural or unforeseen events for example the hurricane that we will refer to shortly or expenditure expenditure due to price and tariff increases so mr president the pfm act requires that the supplementary appropriation bill be introduced before the house with explanatory notes which include the proposed amendments to the appropriation law and other changes to the appropriation law through reallocation and mr president the proposal before this honorable senate seeks to increase the government's budgetary spending by approximately nine point eight seven million dollars for the current fiscal year and for additional amounts to be paid and appropriated out of the general revenue and funds of the state the supplementary budget therefore increases the overall expenditure authority to one billion six hundred and forty eight million four hundred and seventy one thousand three hundred dollars for the current fiscal year now it is to be noted mr president that this increase allocation is only on recurrent expenditure as capital expenditure remains at the level that the original budgeted amounts were allocated between these projects so mr president subsequent to the approval of the appropriations act number two of may 10th 2021 a number of expenses have incurred which were not appropriated and as a result not included in the total in that appropriated appropriations to tell that i just give the 1.6 billion you may recall mr president that st lucer was impacted by hurricane elsa and that is an example of an unforeseen circumstance that a natural disaster and rightfully so that category one hurricane was in july 2021 in addition to the economic loss to the tourism and agricultural sector this hurricane elsa caused damage to both private homes public and corporate buildings on the island and we remember the panic at the time especially since it was close to a general election and at that time the damage was estimated to be in the region of about 12.5 million us dollars so mr president after the assessment of the damage caused by the hurricane the government at the time announced a response package and on july 12 2021 valued that package at e c 12 10 million dollars and these funds which were expended in 2021 now remain to be appropriated appropriately reflected sorry in the budget of the budgeted authority granted by the parliament for the various government ministries departments and agencies who have spent the money um just to give you a quick rundown of um how these funds were distributed based on different departments um in the miniature of agriculture um five million ministry of infrastructure cleanup and restoration um road net roads and so on one million ministry of equity social justice local government and empowerment um three million to support households who um that had sustained damages um department of housing one million to repair damages to the cdc apartments on german street so mr president there was spending and while the spending was probably justified there was a response to a natural disaster but the process has to be corrected and so this administration has decided that these recurrent revenues that will um that have to cover the additional expenses um in that the 2021 2022 budget was framed within the context of a significant financial financing gap and i don't think that we have we don't have to pick up on it now mr president we do and as such an alternative funding mechanism um have to be sought therefore mr president the national economic fund was considered and the sum of 10 million was approved which was later utilized to capitalize the contingencies fund the contingencies fund sorry to cater for unforeseen events such as hurricane elsa mr president such an addition in code in the fiscal year and i was financed primarily by domestic revenues made available from the contingencies fund now these funds will advance to the various departments by way of contingency fund funded warrants as per section 16 of the pfa and a total of four contingency funds fund warrants amounting to 10 million dollars were issued by the former minister for finance for the purposes described um above it was noted and it should be mr mr mr president that um where such advances are made from the contingencies fund not only there is a requirement to replenish the fund pursuant to the pfm act but also parliament's approval is necessary to authorize the supplementary estimates and this is essentially why we are here today mr president to date the total of a total of nine million eight hundred and seventy thousand four hundred dollars which represents 98.7 percent of the capital receipts from the contingencies fund's account was utilized to finance various supplementary amounts required for the fiscal year 2021 2022 now the expenditure was primarily of a recurrent nature and again just to give you an idea mr president of some of the areas that it was spending about four million four point nine million was spent on the department of agriculture fisheries and natural resources um about one million department of housing as i mentioned um close to one million nine hundred and thirty nine thousand two hundred and seventy three dollars was spent by the department of of transport infrastructure port authorities clearing out gutters and drains um culverts drenching rivers and so on and about 300 sorry about three million was utilized by the department of equity so mr president we recognize that these funds needed to be spent and were spent but as is required we have to come here to ensure that the due process is followed and we do it properly and so as indicated mr president the circumstances leading to the request for additional resources though not unusual um were unforeseen and unavoidable we accept that therefore the expenditure in code were necessary to assist the the situation at the time but the government's intervention had to provide provide urgent assistance to defer this expenditure mr president would have been detrimental and and to the very people who we were we are here to serve and for this reason i submit for the consideration and approval of this honorable senate the supplementary estimates of the sums required to replenish the contingencies fund along with explanations of the amendments made to the appropriations act number two of 2021 through reallocation approved by the minister for finance thank you mr president senator is the question senator fady i have not i think i think you jump in the gun a little bit senator is the question about the supplementary appropriation bill we read a second time senator fady thank you mr president mr president i just want to offer up a few comments on the amendment to this appropriation bill i remember the events that has led of led us here um when the hurricane elsa struck mr president um our farmers felt the brunt of it because the hurricane came with a lot of wind and it meant that uh farmers in um communities like roso like tetchum f uh like uh other parts of millet and other parts of the island mr president did indeed um endure severe damages and now i realize that in the request the allocations have about 4.9 almost 5 million to agriculture so i want to register and record that i do support um this initiative to go towards our farmers another thing that happened we saw in some of the highland areas was the fact that um many families in areas like belvedere in canaries and some other parts of the island they suffered severe damages to their their roof and so mr president up until this day some of those families are still without the necessary assistance to get uh their roof repaired in fact uh a lot of them um have suffered severe damages to losing a lot of their household furniture clothing and other personal items i remember visiting one mother in belvedere and she had two children and nothing in the house mr president was good because the wrath of the hurricane was so severe that it did cause this family untold disruption to their lives so it brings into question the need for us to be a lot quicker and a lot more prompt in terms of disaster response while i'm happy that the request is coming before the parliament to get the necessary buy-in so that we can approve the additional funds um i'm not happy that they are still so many families without help because of this um you would remember uh mr president that the cip that sorry in central castries territory that you're familiar with the cdc buildings would have lost its roof and we had to act very promptly to get this into gear so that we can restructure and reorganize and refurbish the roof of the cdc so that we can bring some comfort to the residents there um the leader of government business today has indicated that these monies are coming from the national economic fund of which i'm aware as of june of last year would have had a total of over 31 million dollars in fact when this new regime came into power following the elections they would have met over 30 million dollars we had a big debate in the parliament over um the use and what the national economic fund should be used for i was actually taken to task when i was when i suggested that it appears as if the present government was coming to make the adjustment so that cabinet can have the final decision on who are the people that are going to make the final decision removing the power from the board of the national economic fund and tasking that power into the hands of the cabinet why i'm raising this mr president we are seeing exactly why it is necessary for countries to have a wedday fund we're seeing exactly why why countries have to ensure that the necessary fiscal discipline and the planning and forward thinking so that in the event that we have a hurricane like Elsa that you can respond promptly and such was the thinking behind our financial management over the affairs of this country we sought to ensure that there is the necessary provisions made so that you don't go spending and blasting everything but you make monies available but what this act also does what what what the statement by the lead of government business has done here today it has debunked all suggestions by the current government that the united workers party administration left the coffers empty now if that was the case you would have not had 10 million dollars to find overnight to go and take it from the national economic fund it took years of building up the fund mr president through the returns from the cip program and you would note that our policy is we should not use this for recurrent but we should use this for important capital expenditure programs and as well mr president in times of disaster in unforeseen circumstances i'm very very happy that the leader of government business today has said to the country that there was monies in a fund that his administration was able to tap into so that we can now fund the amendment necessary the president there is no point of order oh sure absolutely i'm addressing the president yeah mr president the leader of opposition business has just made an erroneous statement and i think that could deal could you clarify he has said that i stood and said that we we found monies that we were able to spend and based on the statement that i made i am here to get the process right for monies that have been spent we didn't find any fund that we spent any money in as a government these monies were spent by the former government we are coming to to right the wrong in this case but i have never made any statement this morning to suggest that the labor party came in and found any monies that we were able to spend i have come to this honorable house on behalf of the senate to get the appropriations through the process that it ought to have been so to say that monies were found that we spent is misleading and the leader of opposition business if this is where he's going so we draw and steal you from that argument fellow senator fadey unless you can show us where it is that the leader of government business had uttered the words or said what you claim that he has said i think the honorable thing to do would be to withdraw that because i don't think that you can Mr president i am quoting the leader of government business own opening statement and i would like to ask him a question where are we financing and how are we able to find the extra 10 million dollars because we're going over 1.6 million dollars budgeted he has stated clearly that the monies are coming from the national economic fund i sat here and i listened to you and that's what you said so please clarify where did the money come from i know you will have to hear that it does come from the national economic fund senator fadey you will direct your questions to me not to the not to the honorable minister you come through me not you don't go directly to him right i think he has clarified that so you may continue so so so here we are mr president where it is stated very clearly that the monies are coming from the national economic fund and this is for the viewers that are listening to this this is the cip monies that we have raised and we've placed into that fund as of june there were 30 million dollars and if i can take you further uh this administration in fact while we were here late last year mr president we came here to amend the um national economic fund legislation so that cabinet can make the final decision on how are we going to spend monies on the national economic fund so there's a consistent trend of argument as we come through this house showing that there are monies i remember mr president you and i um were in a back and forth but when i suggested that it appeared as if the national economic fund was being used for a step program for christmas i did say that and the leader of government business at that time raised objections so i'm being very consistent in what i'm saying and at that time you never there was never the objection that there were 30 million dollars in that one so there are monies contrary to the suggestion by the st lucy labor party which they came and found which we left and this is because mr president of prudent management of the finances of this country now this is an appropriation bill that uh this administration has brought to the house and you know there are times that governments may have to do something because the government doesn't stop because there was an election uh one government may uh commence a specific program and then another government may have to come and complete the process it happens all the time we will have the first budget of this administration very very soon and we will be able to in this book called a social economic review where it will reveal the truth about debt in this country and at the appropriate time we will be able to show that there have been a lot of reckless and false statements made about the management of the finances of that country but but the debate is not there could you confine your presentation to the subject matter at hand you were you were straying i've given you a little leeway but i but you were straight a little bit too much now so could you confine your presentation to the supplementary appropriation no problems at all mr president so i'm very i'm calling again mr president so that the people who have lost their roofs can get the necessary uh assistance needed and let it be mr president that while we were going around we didn't look at labor party supporters and uwp supporters we actually had nemo and the social transformation people went ahead and they did a comprehensive surveying of the people that had the damages those damages were assessed we went through the farmers we didn't look at whether they were labor party supporters or whether they were united workers party supporters what we did mr president is that we went through the full list of farmers across st lusia that suffered significant damages and we gave the assistance where necessary so that those individuals can get the relief that is necessary mr president i think on the issue of making sure we have the appropriate resources for climate change this is one such occasion where it tells us very clearly that we need to continue to plan and don't be reactionary in our attitude to spending and saving and making sure that we make the necessary provisions for climate change because mr president this is still a real and present danger that continues to loom over the heads of all small island developing states like ours and so what we have to do mr president to take example from this appropriation today and to see a bigger purpose in what obtains here today by the fact that we need to do what is the disciplinary thing and ensure that we make allowances at all times so that we can respond very quickly mr president the reason why we have always ensured that we kept a national economic fund it's for exactly a purpose like this because when you try to mobilize financing in the international fora and you try to go into the world bank and we've had examples is that by the time you do draw down on the money the people continue to suffer while you're going through the bureaucracy of the IFIs so it becomes absolutely crucial that we plan for this so that we have the flexibility of in a timely fashion going in and tapping into funds that we would have built up ourselves and so I hope that in this very simple exercise that we can find a grander and bigger purpose mr president I thank you very much senator the question is that the supplementary appropriation bill be read is second time I now put the question as many as other opinions say I as many as other country opinions say no I think the eyes of it the eyes of it and have to provide government business mr president I wish to this is a money bill and I wish to move that the supplementary appropriation not commit to committee stage understanding of the 65 and that the bill be read but before I actually put it I just want to correct one issue that was raised by the leader of opposition business and I could not sit here and allow this to go through it happened in a previous chamber and it was corrected and it was attempted again today and I will correct it on the matter of the use of the the funds based on equitable means we have in at that time mr president we had six opposition members in this honorable house six of them and they have all reported over and over that not one of them not one of them was able to tap into or benefit when that was being done so I couldn't have moved on this morning had I not corrected that misleading statement again but the leader of opposition business so mr president having said that I moved that the the supplementary appropriation not commit to committee stage understand another 65 and that the appropriation will be read a third time and pass senator to question is that the supplementary appropriation bill be read a third time and passed I now put the question as many as are that opinion say aye as many as are the country opinion say no I think the eyes of it the eyes of it be enacted by the queen's most excellent majesty by and with the advice and consent of the house of assembly and the senate of st. Richard and by the authority of the theme as follows this act may be cited as the supplementary appropriation act 2021 2022 lead of government business mr president I beg to move for first reading a bill shortly entitled domestic violence domestic violence lead of government business mr president I beg that standing order 49 to be suspended to allow the bill to go through its remaining stages at this senator's the question is that standing orders 49 to be suspended in order to allow the unbelief of government business to proceed with the remaining stages of the bill at this sitting and I put the question as many eyes are that opinion say aye as many eyes are the country opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it leave is granted you may proceed on a building thank you mr president it's president I beg to move for the second reading of a bill entitled shortly entitled domestic violence earlier on mr president we all extended best wishes to our women and at that time the colleague senator opposition senator the only female on the opposition side was not yet in the chamber so I do extend the same to her and all our other colleagues mr president this bill domestic violence bill is perhaps one of the most progressive pieces of legislation that our country and our region would have seen in a very long time and every time there is progressive legislation it signals an intention to grow and to change and it's not always very easy to deal with but you have to be courageous to do such and so as we deliberate on this bill today I will try to be concise to allow for more treatment to be made by the women in this honorable house and so I will provide a very broad context and I'm sure that our honorable senators particularly the women will give proper treatment to this bill but mr president I just want to bring to focus a few salient issues that would have led to this bill being tabled today and also the context within which as a developing country we are tabling this bill in this in the senate mr president St Lucia does not exist in a vacuum and in the Caribbean we have to be in line with certain expectations internationally originally particularly along the lines of human rights equity equality fairness and gender equity gender-based issues fall in line with those I remember that as a student being male and doing a first degree and deciding to do some research on a matter relating to gender equity in administrative practices some of my colleagues male colleagues suggested that I should leave that for the ladies to do why am I fighting the cause for ladies I wasn't doing that mr president I think I was I was just maybe a little bit ahead of my time and recognize that there are certain things that we do perhaps unconsciously that we do not realize can really affect others particularly the opposite sex madam mr president this bill was in my view a bill that should have been passed a long time ago and it was in the making as we heard from the presenter of the bill the minister responsible for gender relations was at the doorstep of the previous administration six years almost went on five years plus and it didn't come through but we have decided within the first eight months of this administration that we the government of the st lucia labor party standing on a very solid foundation of strong women and determined men who are prepared to lead along with these women have decided that this bill must be tabled and so I'm very proud to be with the support of all these the women in this house I might stand alone as the man but I feel very very honored to be part of this historic moment so mr president let me just try to outline some of the benefits and some of the contextual issues that make this bill a very powerful and useful a move we have to be very careful that as we proceed mr president that this bill not only highlights domestic issues relating to couples and people in intimate relationships I've always been a very strong advocate of the the less fortunate and vulnerable and domestic I think is a very key tool in this bill and this is where we must keep our focus because domestic would include a household and in a household you have men generally women elderly children proceeds with disabilities and a whole mix of different types of personalities and once you have people who are vulnerable this domestic violence bill seeks to address and protect them and that is where the value of this bill is mr president the theme for international women's day was very appropriate and captured some of the essence of this bill as well now we usually focus on the issue of violence among persons in relationships particularly against women and as a man I could tell you mr president that perhaps some of some of us as a man may not be as vocal and speak about instances but let's just say there may be men who will benefit from this bill as well because the legislation that we are about to pass will address issues that perhaps give men and others an avenue to area voices mr president the issue of the the issue of safe spaces is one of the the areas that this bill will also address I believe that the home again domestic is the focus the home is supposed to be a safe space supposed to be a place where everyone who occupies that space must feel comfortable they must feel safe they must feel protected and once that these these various attributes are present then the home is really a home and when I say safe protected it has to be so for every occupant of the household men women children elderly vulnerable this bill mr president also makes provisions for threats and I think sometimes we underestimate the intention of someone to cause harm or to cause the stress to someone else and we tend to be reactive and wait until something has happened to to to deal with it but the but this bill also makes makes reference to to threats and if I can just mention under section four under four three in this bill it speaks to a voting and preventing domestic violence before it happens and I think there's a bit of proactivity in this the intent and I think this is something I can I can appreciate and it says that the police must ensure the police the the bill under section 4.3 states mr president that if there is if there is a report that the police must the operative word there is must report or respond to every report it didn't say may it says must and I think it signals an intent mr president minors and children are captured in clause seven and there are certain loopholes that this piece of legislation will help to eliminate particularly when it comes to perpetrators of violence who tend to get away mr president it is clear that domestic domestic violence is violence and violence usually can be linked to criminal activity and we can all agree that in our current environment we would want to to get a hung or get a hand on issues that contribute to any kind of criminal activity and I think this bill also seeks to do that I believe mr mr president that the the bill links our legislation to existing legislation that deals with criminal activity and we need as a country to develop a culture of non-tolerance for any form of violence against any group whether it is women children or anyone else and so I believe mr president that this bill is very timely and addresses a number of issues that make certain actions that probably used to be viewed as trivial makes them serious and criminal and allows for the law to be able to protect those who would have been on the receiving end mr president as any other bill or legislation I also believe that this domestic violence bill must be accompanied by sensitization and education it will not happen in this honorable house in one shot because we are legislators and we will legislate but along with this legislation mr president we must be prepared to sensitize and educate because there are lots of misconceptions stereotypes and fallacies that are associated with gender with women with men boys must not cry girls little girls are made of what is it sugar and spice and all that's nice and boys are this all of those all of those mindsets about the different genders mr president as we go through with this type of legislation we must re-educate our people to to be able to embrace reality and not those I don't know where they came from but there are certain stereotypes that we must get rid of to allow us to be able to give proper treatment to that type of of legislation so mr president this bill doesn't come in isolation and I call on all of us in the senate solutions and all of us who have an interest in the safety comfort and well-being of our loved ones to be open-minded and prepared to embrace a new way of thinking when we address issues of violence against women and against any other group mr president I need to say also that sometimes we in our own way not necessarily intentionally but in in our actions we can be very it's very easy for us to to discriminate um and I think when it comes to children I have a particular maybe because of my background I have a particular interest in how any piece of legislation affects them and we will all agree in this honorable house that in our society fortunately or unfortunately women tend to be the ones who provide a lot of the nurturing and upbringing and the direct interaction with our children I hope that this changes but I believe that what this bill does it also tries to put all children and other victims on a fair and level playing field in terms of the treatment and how the issues are resolved and I'm hoping that it will also involve both legitimate children and what we may call legitimate illegitimate children from married homes and children who may you know who may not have been conceived or brought up in a legitimate quote unquote environment and mr president I believe that as we try to deal with this piece of legislation we may have to come back at some point to make some amendments because you know the whole concept of gender and all of these things evolve and we may have to come back one day and redefine what is male and what is female and and a woman and and their own perception of themselves as men as well we have other you know other connotations that is a reality we have to face and we must not run away from it even as a man mr president I have been questioned because I along with senator draw here gender champions of the parliament you know is as if that is a place for women and that is one of the misconceptions that we must we must get away from because men have a place in this in this agenda and I believe that if we adopt that type of attitude that this bill with any deficiency it may have from the onset we should be ready and willing to strengthen it and make sure that it deals with the intention for which it was passed but I believe at this point mr president I will have to take my leave and allow a little more balance gender balance maybe so that all of our members of this honorable senate who wish to contribute will do so but keep in one thing in mind that the intention of this bill is to address whatever issues that discriminate or cause harm or can damage or in any way affect persons in a domestic setting and not particularly any one group or any one person so mr president I submit these comments as I present this bill and look forward to a very healthy and engaging discussion senators the question is that the domestic violence bill be read a second time senator java here your mind is working mind is working testing yeah yes yeah mr president under the current circumstances I move that the house stands suspended for 10 minutes so we can address the minor accident members only remembers the question is that the house stands adjourned for 10 minutes to facilitate the resolution of the current issues being faced with the microphones I now move the question as many as are of that opinion say I as many as are the country opinions say no the eyes of it the highest of it house stands adjourned for 10 minutes and they're quite briefly in just 10 minutes suspension there for the house on just another incident a glass of water being spilt which would have affected the microphone one to the system just making sure that the issue is resolved so that we can have the PA system working so we will take a short break and we are going to be back for the sitting of the senate just within a 10 minute period