Bermuda and Canada have reached a settlement over the repayment of advance rent that the Canadian military paid for 54 Boaz Island housing units before its 1993 pull-out, The Royal Gazette has learned.

"It's true that we've reached an agreement with (the Canadians) in this matter,'' Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons said last night.

"The final document, however, hasn't returned from Canada yet.'' Until the document does, Mr. Gibbons said, he "would prefer to hold off on giving any details'' about the settlement with the Island's former tenants.

The Canadians, the Minister joked, referring to the French-speaking province of Quebec's narrowly defeated bid for secession this week, "have enough problems already''.

Even so, Mr. Gibbons did reveal last night that the deal was "very advantageous to Bermuda, involving a payment by Bermuda (to Canada) over a long period of time''.

The Works and Engineering Minister compared the settlement with Canada to an "interest-free loan''.

In 1991, the Canadian military, which was stationed at Daniel's Head in Somerset, signed a 32-year lease with the West End Development Corporation for 54 Boaz Island apartments to house its personnel.

At the time, the Canadians arranged a straight-line reimbursement scheme with Wedco and paid $11.6 million -- their rent for the first eight years.

Prior to Canada's abandonment of Daniel's Head in December of 1993, the Works Ministry under then-Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira had agreed to reimburse the Canadians for approximately three years of rent.

Bermuda, however, remained noncommittal about the remaining money, which had been the subject of the negotiations until recently.

Mr. Gibbons declined to comment on the reasons for the two-year duration of the negotiations.

HOUSING HSG CANADIAN MILITARY BASE MIL