Government inquiry into the bankruptcy of the Co-Op Supermarket. We think Senator Oughton is correct.

Running a supermarket is a very difficult business with very small profit margins. It may well be that there was nothing wrong with the management of the Co-Op. As a small grocery the Co-Op may have found itself in the same position as some other small groceries in being unable to compete with larger mass-buying operations. It could also be that the Co-Op did not receive the custom it might have expected from its membership. Of course, the Co-Op could have been mismanaged. But we will never know very much without an inquiry and it is best that the whole matter be examined.

Bermuda now has an inquiry into the hiring and firing practices at the Bermuda Telephone Company which did not impact on nearly as many people as the collapse of the Co-Op. First of all there are shareholders and employees of the Co-Op who deserve to know what happened. Secondly the Co-Op seems to have been given a very generous credit line by its grocery suppliers who now stand to lose a great deal of money. Thirdly, and this is very important, there are large sums of the people's money involved because someone in Government was very lenient in collecting the Co-Op's tax and health insurance payments which actually belonged to Co-Op employees. This employee and public money seems to have been used to keep the Co-Op afloat. Our fourth point is that the Bermuda Industrial Union poured a good deal of its members' money into loans and uncollected bills to help the Co-Op.

Thus large sections of the public were involved with the Co-Op in one way or another and that strongly indicates that there should be a public inquiry. We believe that the Bermuda Industrial Union would itself be calling for an inquiry on behalf of its members who were shareholders and its members who were employees and on behalf of itself as the major creditor if this were any business other than the Co-Op.

We think that Government has to undertake public responsibility where the Co-Op is concerned and to open an investigation, especially to protect those members of the BIU who are not being protected by the BIU. The shareholders are being asked by the Co-Op leaders to provide $1,200 each toward the debts and that is a considerable amount to ask from small shareholders. Government must be seen to care about all the people and Government should not be shy of the Co-Op collapse simply because the Co-Op is so closely tied to the BIU.

This is such a public issue that it comes down in the end to the fact that justice must be seen to be done.