Human Affairs Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill introduced a bill setting up a commission to heal Bermuda of the "insidious disease'' of racism saying it was not "a whole Cure'' but "a significant step in the right direction.'' It was a "happy coincidence'' that the acronym for the Commission of Unity and Racial Equality Act 1994 was CURE, he said.

He stressed the commission would not be in competition with he Human Rights Commission. He noted Commission head Canon James Francis had been involved in the fact-finding meetings that led to the setting up of the race relations commission.

He had also met with the heads of Nova Scotia's and Ontario's Human Rights Commission, and numerous other local and overseas agencies, including the Chamber of Commerce, BIBA, the employment council, the churches, even members of the Baha'i faith.

A series of race relations forums were also held and he was particularly indebted to the Human Rights Commission for helping organise them. He also thanked The Royal Gazette for running a series of editorials on the subject.

They had given his Ministry a "shocking,'' "enlightening'' and "inspirational'' insight into the issue.

"None of us are actually unaffected by the issue of racism,'' Mr. Dill said.

"Either you are a perpetrator, a victim, or you are befitting from it. But none of is free from the effects of the scourge of racism.'' He also congratulated the Bermuda Times for its racism editorial which he felt supported a commission on race relations.

The functions of the commission, he said, were first of all to educate.

Pamphlets in "everyday simple terms'' would be produced, he said.

Another aim was to ensure equal power. The appointment of a black Bermudian to the post of Court of Appeal president sent a clear message that there was no office in the land from which residents should be excluded.

The Commission aimed to "eliminate all forms of institutionalised racism,'' he said.

Its 12 members would represent all sectors of Bermudian society.

The fact a recent Education Ministry survey found white oriented information was "inadvertently'' being taught to school students was the kind of task for the commission to undertake, he said.

Mr. Dill explained that CURE was established to educate, conduct research and measure the compliance to the codes of practice.

He was quick to point out that CURE was but one limb in a process that is aimed at dismantling racism.

Among other proposals are an amendment to the criminal code which will make racially motivated acts a criminal offence.

Mr. Dill said CURE was intended to encourage people to negotiate and appreciate the significance of dialogue.

Already, this process has begun, he said, with the work of the Conflict Management Team that is conducting workshops to train facilitators in race relations and racial sensitivity.

Shadow Minister for Human Affairs and Information Ms Renee Webb said the PLP was happy to see that the Government is making an effort to end racism.

However, she said the PLP was disturbed that given the seriousness of racism, it was not dealt with separately from sexual discrimination.

"It is unfortunate there are not two separate pieces of legislation (for sex and race) she said.

Moreover, Ms Webb pointed out that CURE's major drawback was that it lacked the power to enforce and investigate.

This made it difficult for CURE to monitor those blacks that have been economically disadvantaged by the "policies, practices and procedures'' of an employer that practises discrimination.

Ms Webb said employers generally have a problem with any outside entity looking at their policies.

Furthermore, she questioned why, if Bermuda's Human Rights legislation is patterned on the British and Canadian models, it did not have the same powers of enforcement as those bodies did.

Ms Webb also asked what protections are in place if an employee takes an allegation of discrimination to CURE, given that employees in the past have been fired by their employers after they lodge a complaint.

In its educational role, Ms Webb said CURE's focus on the workplace was too narrow and should be expanded to include schools, clubs, banks, lending institutions, housing and real estate because "racism in Bermuda is the inside every spectre of life as we know it.'' Additionally the judiciary, the Police and media should also have a code of practice and be monitored.

And monitoring should also include salaries and promotions. Although employers will not want to voluntarily give up these records.

Ms Webb said it was good to see that government itself was included among the institutions CURE would monitor, but she asked how evidence could be given before a board of Inquiry when commissioners were forbidden to testify about information they had uncovered.

While both Government and the Bermuda Regiment have been included in those being monitored by CURE, Ms Webb said the Police Service was exempted and recently imposed a 15 percent quota on female recruits.

Ms Webb also said that many businesses may argue that the costs involved in creating less discriminative workplace would be prohibitive.

Community and Cultural Affairs minister the Hon. Wayne Furbert said when discussing race relations it was important to avoid the extremists, both black and white and focus on those in the middle.

However, he said while some businesses may say it will cost too much not to discriminate, at the same time it was costly not to go along with CURE.

Leon (Jimmy) Williams (PLP) criticised Mr. Furbert for not addressing the difficulties faced by small businesses when he heads the Small Business Association.

However, he was immediately chided by Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness who called him "an empty vessel who spoke for ten minutes yet made no contribution to the debate.'' He said the CURE debate centred on two themes. They were enforcement, and the necessity of including sexual discrimination in this bill.

Mr. Edness said employers would be allowed time to subscribe to the codes of practice which would be enforced by evidence gathering, if an employer was found practising discrimination.

This information would then be forwarded to the Human Rights Commission where it would be dealt with.

Although conceding that such a practice was an indirect method, he said it was better because more direct methods had a negative impact on those who may be unaware that what they are doing is discriminatory.

Mr. Edness said because sexual discrimination was mentioned in the CURE bill no one should think that Government thought racism was less significant.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ewart Brown (PLP) said Government was hampered in its attempt to fight racism because of its tardy recognition of the problem.

He also said the UBP was considered by some Bermudians to be a part of the problem.

"Mr. Dill has accepted the burden of the century but I'm not sure he really understands the nature of the menace to which he is assigned.'' An example of this, he said, was Mr. Dill's statement that "racism has nothing to do with race. It has to do with power.'' This, Dr. Brown said, was an untenable definition.

UBP whip Mr. John Barritt said CURE's aim was to give Bermudians a say "a chance to take authorship'' and that persons from varied backgrounds will be a part.

Mr. Ottiwell Simmons (PLP), skeptical of whether the bill would actually start curing racism, was the "only reason'' for the riots Bermuda has had. "We've had more integration as a result of riots than as a result of racism,'' he said.

Furthermore, the bill did not give CURE any teeth since it could not investigate complaints. He said the clause that no CURE member or employer could give evidence in court was "ridiculous.'' How could the bill remedy racism if CURE could not act? he asked. "It's another little bureaucracy.'' he said, noting it was to have offices and staff and act in addition to the Human Rights Commission.

Mr. David Dodwell (UBP) recognised the "tremendous strides in Bermuda as far as social racism goes.'' And he said it was the responsibility of not just Government or the employer to conform with CURE's code, but employees and the general community as well.

Imposing penalties in the code was premature, he said. We must first watch the process and if the CURE code is broken, "that's where penalties come in.'' Mr. Stanley Morton (PLP) said it was unfortunate that every time racism was addressed black people were used to "rectify problems that were not caused by them.'' He said he was also wondering how much power the bill afforded those charged with fighting racism, which, being "at least 50,'' he had come to expect in the community.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan opened his address by saying he had been Premier for 22 years and had seen the racial landscape of Bermuda change considerably.

He was now proud to be part of a bill aimed at ordering fundamental change from residents both in race relations and gender relations.

He reminded MPs the bill sort to cure discrimination against Bermuda's women climbing the corporate ladder.

Sir John conceded it was "unfortunate'' the schools were not properly integrated back in the 1970s.

Now "society has grown up separately,'' he said, which was the need for the CURE bill.

He felt Bermuda being so small had a "unique opportunity'' to reach racial harmony.

He urged the black community to play a part and embrace more of the white community.

"We have a very successful financial side, let's make sure we have a successful human side,'' he said.

The best way to heal a society of the ill of racism was when the people "feel good and feel they're going to heal themselves.'' Sir John said a shake-up was needed in the boardrooms of local companies where there were "a very small number of females'' and a "smattering'' of blacks.

Shadow Education Minister Miss Jennifer Smith said she was sure her entire party hoped the bill would succeed, but she had misgivings it would based on the legacy of racism which Government was ignoring.

"You can't suddenly change and say we're all on a level playing field,'' she said. "We did not just suddenly arrive at the point where some schools are labelled and some are not.'' Today, the education system was depriving Bermudians of entry into even Bermuda College because some schools did not teach a language or second science.

"I like to think it will go away.

But the alienation is part of a legacy,'' she said.

Mr. Grant Gibbons (UBP) assured the Minister understood the nature of the menace he had been assigned -- race relations. Enforcement and investigating complaints were separate issues and not the function of CURE. They were to come up in another bill concerned with the Human Rights Commission.

He said Miss Webb had "missed the point'' in claiming the legislation would be ineffective without CURE being given powers to enforce its race relations code.

He said Bermuda could not move forward until all Bermudians both black and white were able to reach their full potential without barriers.

Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade asked how long was the country going to have to wait for employers to eliminate racism in their companies.

Blacks had been waiting 75 years so far, he said.

Taking exception to claims in editorials in this newspaper that the PLP was in some way responsible for the drugs problem because it did not support the Archibald report, Mr. Wade said the PLP had done its best to co-operate but was often shut out of Government national committees or given a token two names to appoint.

It only had two appointees on the national drug committee.

He said CURE was "one area we have something to offer. I see nothing wrong with letting the PLP name people to the commission.'' Opposition whip Mr. Stanley Lowe picked up on Mr. Wade's point about workplace racism, claiming many Bermudian companies could be doing much more to improve the lot of the traditionally disenfranchised.

"Institutions that are 100 years old or older should be able to find the money to provide more training,'' he said. "We're not a backwood kind of place where we can't do it. It's just a matter of will. And if they must be made to do it, then they should be made to do it.'' He added: "Can you imagine that having had racism officially dismantled in the early 1960s we are still talking about it in the 1990s?''