Despite overwhelming protest in the House of Assembly on Friday night, the Shadow Minister of Health presented a ?draft legislation? to prohibit smoking in public places and the sale of tobacco to people under the age of 18.

In his motion, Michael Dunkley told the House that smoking and second hand smoke is the number one killer in Bermuda.

?Smoking is the major cause of respiratory disease, heart disease, stroke, vascular disease and cancers of the lung, oral cavity, urinary tract and cervix,? he said.

He said studies have shown that 33 percent of all cancer deaths are due to smoking, adding that smoking during pregnancy is associated with many adverse outcomes including premature births.

?The cost of a premature birth is startling, well in excess of $500,000 per year. I have been informed by an insurance company that one premature birth recently cost over $1 million,? he said.

Mr. Dunkley went on to say that many restaurants and clubs in Bermuda have already introduced a no smoking environment, including Barracuda Grill, Speciality Inn, Paraquet and The Mid Ocean Club.

?But in many cases restaurants and bars want legislation to be put in place so the decision is taken out of their hands and there can be no concern that they might be in an un-competitive position because they have rules that their competitors might not enforce,? he said.

Mr. Dunkley said the Government was continually accusing the Opposition of being political.

?Well there are two points I would like to make in connection with that. The first being, yes we are being political after all this is politics and second, being political we do so because we have very little confidence in the ability of this Government in getting things done as their record has shown a pattern of not getting things done!

?This being the case we have no confidence in the ability of the PLP to bring encompassing legislation to make the needed changes in the near future,? he said.

Mr. Dunkley then presented the draft legislation, adding that he heard murmurs that the drafting chambers were overworked and short staffed.

?This attached legislation can help. The PLP can take it and craft it as they deem necessary,? he said.

During the presentation, he was interrupted first by Finance Minister Paula Cox and then by Deputy Speaker, Jennifer Smith, who both objected to Mr. Dunkley presenting the draft legislation as a bill.

Ms Smith said Mr. Dunkley was referring clause by clause to a bill that had not been tabled in the House.

?He is referring to something the Opposition has drawn up that they have not tabled and cannot tabled,? she said.

The Acting Speaker, Wayne Perinchief, reminded the House that ?this? (the draft) was not a bill, had not been tabled as a bill, but had been put forward as a potential draft, or illustration of what legislature could look like.

?I have never tried to imply that this is tabled legislation, just trying to be helpful. But I do have to say that in the strongest possible terms that if the Government is not supportive of these type of initiatives then we?ve got a serious problem,? Mr. Dunkley replied.

Mr. Dunkley said there was no need to make it a political issue.

?Because smoking and the hazards of smoking don?t affect UBP people, or PLP people, or rich people, or poor people, white people or black people ? it affects all of us,? he said.

?So while I appreciate that the Government could be a bit jealous of the Opposition wanting to implement legislation, it?s our position that we need to push this initiative by Government forward to fruition for the health of all the people of this Island.?

Mr. Dunkley said the rest of the world had this type of legislation, including Cuba and wanted to know what was taking the Government so long.

The Minister of Telecommunications and e-Commerce, Michael Scott responded that the Government had a timetable.

Mr. Dunkley responded that if Government showed him more important legislation concerning the health of Bermudians, then he would ?sit down and shut up?.

Health Minister Patrice Minors responded that in 2003/2004 Bermuda had been invited to join the rest of the world in a tobacco control action plan.

?We have created a plan with the purpose of putting in place legislation that will address a variety of issues including smoking in public places and the age limit,? she said.

She said the Government had come up with a Tobacco Control Action plan.

Mrs. Minors said there were things that could be done to prevent the use of tobacco.

These include changing the environment, educating the community, including young people who are at risk, and continued collection of data as to how smoking impacting our health costs and at what ages young people are starting to smoke.

She said the Government also needed access to risk reduction services.

Mrs. Minors said the one policy that proved to be most effective in reducing tobacco use was the progressive expansion of smoke free environments.

?We are pleased that there are some 45 restaurants that have already made the decision to make their establishments totally smoke free,? she said.

She added that by June 17 the Ministry of Health would have been in consultation with all parties involved, including hotels and restaurants and give them the opportunity to share their ideas.

The Health Minister added that Government intended to make legislative changes which went ?much further? than simply raising the legal age and banning smoking in enclosed public places ? a policy which would take time and careful planning?.

Prohibiting the sale of cigarettes from vending machines was something Government was seriously considering, she said, as well as a ban on all cigarette advertising.

Health Inspectors will also be engaged in enforcing the new regulations, with fines for illegally smoking in bars or restaurants to be anywhere from $250 or higher.

?The Honourable member Mr. Dunkley says that we should get on with it and just do the two items [raise the age limit and ban smoking in enclosed public spaces],? she said.

?But I believe we can be far more comprehensive in what amendments we bring to the legislation.?

Mrs. Minors then successfully moved an amendment to the motion under discussion to include the phrase ?and the progress the Minister of Health and Family Services has made in this area to date?.

Such an amendment did not go down well with the Opposition, with speaker after speaker claiming that any suggestion Government was making any tangible progress on such an important public health issue was ?entirely unfounded?.

Shadow Minister of Works and Engineering Patricia Gordon-Pamplin questioned why it had taken Government since May 2003 ? when it took part in the World Health Organisation?s anti-smoking convention ? to start to move forward on the issue.

?Every day we fail to take action, another life is put in danger,? she said.

?I simply don?t buy the Minister?s excuse that we cannot act on something substantive now. I?ve lost count of the number of amendments we?ve had put before us in the past to make adjustments to legislation and there is no reason why we cannot do it in this case, to at least start the ball rolling. The Government is taking an age to produce what they call ?comprehensive? legislation when something like the raising of the legal age could be enacted in a heartbeat. There is no need to wait until the end of the year.?

Neville Darrell echoed these sentiments, arguing that nothing ?concrete? had been placed before the House for MPs to consider and that Government was simply ?stalling?.

?I cannot understand why the Government is not moving expeditiously on this,? he said.

?We could have been here today signing off on something substantive. What we wanted was ?first step? legislation which would precede more substantial legislation to come later this year. What ?progress? is Government referring to? They?ve seem to have redefined the word for us.?

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons accused the Health Minister of missing a ?fantastic? opportunity to work with her Shadow Mr. Dunkley by endorsing the dummy bill included in his original motion.

Dr. Gibbons said Government was clearly embarrassed by the speed with which Mr. Dunkley had put together a ?bill? having consulted with legal acquaintances and people in the cigarette industry, while Government has taken ?two and a half years to do essentially nothing?.

?There is a real sense of frustration on this side at the lack of progress this Government has made,? he said.

?What could have been simpler than the Health Minister looking at Mr. Dunkley?s draft bill and agreeing to work with him. This is, after all, an issue on which we are largely in agreement. Instead, the Minister has today attempted to piggyback on Mr. Dunkley?s original motion. But again, it is clear what we need here is less talk and more action.?

In response, Government backbencher Walter Lister ? who was Acting Health Minister while Mrs. Minors was on maternity leave ? said Mr. Dunkley?s ?bill? was highly flawed and that the Opposition had ?forgotten? how long it sometimes took for legislation to proceed through a number of different hands before it came to be considered by the House.

?The Minister does not have the luxury of snatching any old piece of legislation and bringing it to the House,? he said.

?I?ve had legal friends look at the legislation Mr. Dunkley had drawn up and laughed. It has a lot of holes in it. We are not embarrassed in any way. Good legislation takes time to produce.?