announced yesterday.

The Hon. Jerome Dill also announced creation of a Government commission as part of its initiative to eliminate racism.

Thirdly, the Human Rights Commission would be given new powers to make it "quite fierce'' in combating racism, Mr. Dill said at a news conference.

"This is a major initiative of which we are very proud,'' Mr. Dill said.

"I think we are actually treading on new ground.'' The measures were outlined in a White Paper on racism that was tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday and is to be debated before Parliament rises for the summer.

"The reason why race relations in this Country haven't improved dramatically over the years is that we haven't consistently addressed the problem,'' Mr.

Dill said.

"I don't anticipate that the problem of racism is going to go away overnight -- it might never go away.

"The work of the commission is going to have to be ongoing and consistent for at least the next ten, 15, 20 years.'' Called the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE), it would work with employers, unions, and institutions "to promote better race relations through education and the creation of social programmes designed to change behaviour and improve attitudes on racial issues.'' Initial Opposition reaction was positive. Shadow Human Affairs Minister Ms Renee Webb said she had advocated both a more proactive Human Rights Commission and making racism a criminal offence. She also liked the idea of the new commission, CURE.

"If it's going to end the scourge of racism in Bermuda, both I and the Progressive Labour Party will be pleased,'' Ms Webb said. "My initial comments are positive -- the rest remains to be seen.'' Both CURE and the Human Rights Commission would require extra staff, but Mr.

Dill could not say yesterday how much.

CURE would issue "codes of practice'' to eliminate both race and gender discrimination in the workplace.

The codes, prepared after consultation with employers and workers, would be non-binding at first.

"Compliance will be reviewed after one year and, if it is necessary, Government will not hesitate to make the codes legally binding,'' the White Paper said.

CURE would have at least three committees: education; policy and research; and "compliance services;'' which would monitor trends in the work force and identify patterns of institutional discrimination.

Mr. Dill said he would also introduce amendments to the Criminal Code to "deal with making racist acts criminal offences.'' The details were still being worked on.

Government would also "put some teeth in'' the Human Rights Commission. It for the first time would be able to launch investigations without receiving a complaint, Mr. Dill said.

It could also probe complaints that were already being investigated by another Government agency. And if it could not resolve a complaint in nine months, the Human Rights Commission could forward it to the Human Affairs Minister, who could appoint a Board of Inquiry.

Boards of inquiry or courts could order compensation for mental anguish in substantiated cases of discrimination, and the Human Rights Commission could represent complainants before Boards of Inquiry.

Fines under the Human Rights Act 1981 would be increased, to $5,000 from $1,000 for a first offence, and to $10,000 or three years in jail from $3,000 or three months in jail for a second offence.

The penalty for contravening an order of a Board of Inquiry would rise to $5,000 from $1,000 for an individual and to $10,000 from $5,000 for an organisation.

Employers, including Government, could launch affirmative action plans, provided they were approved by the Human Rights Commission.

Legislation -- which would include a bill to establish CURE, amendments to the Criminal Code, and amendments to the Human Rights Act -- could not be introduced before fall but would be before the House "as soon as we possibly can,'' Mr. Dill said.

In 1992, the Tumim Criminal Justice Review Board recommended that Government create a special arm of the Human Rights Commission to deal with race relations.

But after talks with anti-racism agencies in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Mr. Dill concluded that a separate body was needed.

"The common theme was that it seemed to them that you have to have two separate organisations, one of which is going to be hard and...quite fierce, frankly, on enforcement,'' while the other was non-aggressive and could be easily approached.