Gordon Pamplin aiming to help Island's disadvantaged
Helping those unable to help themselves was the driving force which brought Patricia Gordon Pamplin back into mainstream politics.
She said: "When I went through the 1993 election as an Independent, the reality hit me that independent candidates didn't have a place in the political environment in Bermuda. If you want to assist people, you have to do it in a proper party structure.
"There are people who don't have the ability, who aren't sufficiently articulate or can't talk about challenges they're facing -- I think I have a calling to help people as much as I can.'' Mrs. Gordon Pamplin stood in 1993 in protest over treatment of foreign spouses, who at that time had to seek permission from Immigration to work -- a policy which has now changed.
She said she was drawn back into the UBP's fold because of the party's policy of inclusion for all. Mrs. Gordon Pamplin said: "There is a better level of integration -- my idea of cohesiveness is for the people of a country to move forward together and the UBP personified that for me.'' She said that the major national issues on the campaign trail were drugs and crime and the level of health care for senior citizens. And she called for people to stand up to the drugs menace, as well as drug-related crime, and called on the public to assist Police in bringing offenders to justice.
She said: "People are worried about the increased use of drugs country-wide -- and in Paget West, especially in school zones.'' Mrs. Gordon Pamplin said that the Post Office controversy in Paget had come to the fore in the election. She added: "The UBP Government had organised a Post Office and nursery at the college at Stonington campus and put more than $600,000 in the Budget for it.
"The PLP have said it's actually in the Budget in the Works and Engineering Ministry -- but it doesn't exist in the capital expenditure budget.
"If they're going to fund it out of the current account budget, good luck to them -- that makes no sense.'' Other local issues, she said, were sidewalks, especially near Paget Primary School and bus services at night.
And she dismissed controversy over her selection, with some UBP members claiming the party's constitution had been ignored and a row over whether she resigned properly from Senate before she was nominated as "not major issues''.
Mrs. Gordon Pamplin said: "My selection meeting was advertised..anyone who wanted to come along and voice an opinion could do so. "And I don't think this election is going to be won or lost on the nomination issue -- it's about a genuine desire to put yourself forward to advance things for the people of Paget West, to be able to listen and react to their concerns.'' She added that her role as the UBP's first-ever Opposition by-election candidate had not caused her any problems either.
Mrs. Gordon Pamplin said: "People recognise you have to have a strong Opposition -- people know the UBP is no longer in Government.'' FACTFILE Name: Patricia Gordon Pamplin (Mother of two). Age: 49. Occupation: Certified accountant. Political background: Active in the UBP in the 80s, rising to branch deputy chairman. Stood as an Independent in the 1993 General Election. Contested Pembroke East Central for the UBP in November, 1998.
Appointed Opposition Member of Senate after the General Election. PHOTO No caption