Houston, we’ve got a problem. It’s a great line from a pretty good movie (Apollo 13) and by its simplicity conveys effectively what lies ahead. Telescopic vision is not required. Eyes Wide Open (not Shut) will do. So it is, I think, with the work of the SAGE Commission.First, I give the Commissioners credit for their attempts at outreach and the series of public meetings they organised for this week. I attended the second in St George’s. They are clearly trying to engage the public not just on the enormity of the problem they face, and ultimately that we face, but also on possible solutions. All of this within the constraints of the SAGE Act which, as you will recall from an earlier kerfuffle, requires that they maintain a level of secrecy about their findings and recommendations until their actual report is made public. But that won’t be until November when the House on the Hill resumes for a new session, presuming, as I do, that there won’t be any more special sittings after the current one.Two quick observations here: (1) the confidentiality constraints, while frustrating, did make for some lighter moments when Commissioners and their committee members told us that while they couldn’t share findings and recommendations, they could flag the issues which they did to great effect; (2) this begs the question of just who will take the findings and recommendations to the public not just for discussion but for explanation, edification and, yes, defence even? As the chairman reminded us the Commission comes to an end upon completion of their work under the terms of its original appointment: and the impression is that that will be that.Pity that. This is going to be hard sell. People are getting their heads around the severity of the problem, still. It was always going to be difficult to accept what is an unacceptable state of affairs. But if that was hard, consider how much harder it is to get people to accept there are going to have to be some sacrifices and cuts around here to get us back to a government that the community can reasonably afford. This isn’t just about numbers, it is about people.The appetite to change is there for taxpayers, judging from those who were in the audience on Tuesday, i.e. by and large the converted. But I suspect it will be far different for those who stand to be directly affected. They are the people who really need to be sold: the civil servants, their unions, their families, and their communities — which is a lot of us. That the real target audience.We are told that there have been meetings and discussions with the unions and “the rank and file”. Great. I am sure that the Commissioners have impressed them with the enormity of the problem, much along the lines they have shared in their public presentation:* A current projected Budget deficit of $330-million which has to be eliminated over the next three years;* A crippling $500-million wage bill that needs to be cut by tens of millions of dollars which could well mean job losses and/or less pay; and* Pension funds that are woefully underfunded to the tune of nearly $3-billion which will require increased contributions, decreased benefits, including no more cost of living increases, and increase in the retirement age, or some combination thereof.But discussions are one thing, recommendations quite another — without getting into the challenges of actual implementation, just yet. Buy in will be key.There are those too, who feel equal and similar emphasis should have been put on raising revenue, and not just how to grow the economy but a review of our system of taxation as well. But that’s not in this Commission’s remit.Let’s also be honest about the make-up of the Commission. It does not in its composition reflect the breadth of the community. The unions quite rightfully felt left out of collaboration around that table and as a result, quite reasonably view the Commission with suspicion, as a kind of a Trojan Horse, one that will trample that which they have gained and all that they have earned over the years. Too harsh a view? Unfair? Well, we shall soon see when the report is published. The proof will lie not in the pudding but in the eating of the pudding when, I suspect, even more work will have to be done to achieve buy-in.This is after all our number one problem that we need to ‘self determine’.* Share your views on The Royal Gazette website or write jbarritt@ibl.bm.