A year ago today Craig Cannonier led his One Bermuda Alliance to victory against the Progressive Labour Party Government of Paula Cox. Twelve months on, The Royal Gazette asked Premier Cannonier to give his own assessment of his Government’s highs and lows in 2013, and what voters can expect in the coming year.

Q: How do you rate the OBA’s first year in power on a scale of one to ten (one being poor, ten being excellent)?

A: We’re not going to get into a rating game other than to say that governments are rated on whether they get things done. The previous administration was voted out because they didn’t deliver. The problems we inherited are serious and deep and will take years to put right, but we are pleased with the steady progress we’ve made to stimulate job-growing economic activity. There is much left to do. I’m confident in my team and their commitment to get things done. We’ve passed over 45 pieces of legislation to get this country moving in the right direction within our first year — that’s significant.

Q: Which promises do you think you have kept and which promises do you think you have broken or have yet to fulfil?

A: Let’s be very clear about fulfilling election promises: Governments are elected for a term of office — in our case five years. Our election platform was put together for implementation over a span of five years, not one year, so it makes any sense at this time to talk about election promises not fulfilled.

Now, the Opposition has tried to nail ‘broken promises’ to the Government’s mast and some of the media has followed their lead, but what are these broken promises?

Term limits: We said in the election that we would suspend the term limit policy for two years pending development of guidelines that protect Bermudians jobs and stimulate the job market. Once in office, we reviewed legal opinions and statistical analyses that showed the term limit policy was not just ineffective but that it had negatively affected Bermuda business. The decision we took then was based on this new information, and it was followed by measures to ensure Bermudian jobs are protected. We have also implemented increased penalties for employers and employees who breach policy and law and put in place a Bermuda Jobs Board. In the New Year we will introduce a new work permit policy that contains a requirement for training programmes for Bermudians.

Gaming referendum: We’ve kept to our pledge to move the country in the right direction and that’s what we’re doing, day in-day out. We made the decision we made because of our concerns about Opposition efforts to undermine the referendum as well as the importance of producing jobs for Bermudians. While our decision does not fulfil an election pledge, the Government made a more important pledge to the people of Bermuda and that is to get the Island out of an economic mess, growing jobs for Bermudians. As I stated last week, the realities of where the country is now from a financial perspective is a far cry from where we thought it was when we first became the government. We know that there is an urgency to create jobs and that’s why we can’t play politics. We’ve got to move quickly to ensure that Bermudians get back to work.

We’ve implemented a number of policies that are bearing fruit. We said we were going to get Bermudians back to work and we’re starting to see that happen. We said we wanted to restore confidence in Bermuda once again, and that’s starting to happen as well. While circumstances may change, like discovering that the country is in far worse condition than anyone could have imagined, my commitment remains the same.

Q: What do you think your most important achievement as a Government has been in 2013?

A: I’m very proud of the team that worked diligently to bring the Unions together to work out a suitable solution for the Civil Service earlier this year. As you’ll recall, an agreement was reached with the BTUC for all unions who represent Government employees and their separate terms and conditions. All Union memberships ratified the agreement despite their differences in just one month. This is unprecedented and a historic achievement.

Q: What do you think your biggest failing as a Government has been in 2013?

A: Admittedly, I was disappointed at the initial decision making regarding the closure of the Lamb-Foggo Urgent Care Clinic in St. George’s. I don’t think there was a proper amount of investigation into the alternatives. I’m happy that we were able to come to an agreement for the time being as we’re working on finding a more sustainable solution.

Q: What will be top of the OBA Government’s priority list for its second year in power?

A: We will continue to be very aggressive about seeking out foreign direct investment funds for our much needed infrastructure projects.

One focus this first year has been to rebuild the economy, putting in place measures for job growth and we’ve done a lot to make that happen. The work we’ve done to rebuild the economic foundation of the Island and, in the process, to restore confidence in Bermuda as a place to do business. It’s all about putting in place conditions to grow jobs and pay cheques.

Can you provide progress reports on where you are now with the following promises?

Reducing the national debt: That is a work in progress and will continue to be so for the considerable future. As you know, we inherited a massive debt There is no way that we could have reduced the debt within this short span of time. We had to assess the situation first and then lay policies to stimulate confidence in Bermuda, but we’re working on it.

Paying government bills in 30 days: The Government pays its bills within the allotted 30 day time frame.

Creating 2,000 jobs: This is an ongoing objective which will be realised through our efforts to rebuild the economy over the next four years. Therefore, it remains a work in progress. As at September, 2013, 420 new jobs were created for Bermudians. The effort never stops.

Investing in St George’s: That has been a priority for us. We’ve put legislation in place to inject money back into the Town. We have strengthened St. George’s ability to develop and promote its World Heritage Site status through funds generated by a tax to be levied on fuel landed at the St George’s oil docks. We have also reopened the St. George’s Police Station.

Holding a hospitality development summit: We held a Tourism Summit in June with a select group of international developers to determine what Bermuda needs to finally break ground on resort development.

Cutting down on consultants: We have vastly reduced the number of consultants from previous administrations.

Initiating a road improvement programme: We’re well underway with this programme. In our first year, we initiated road alignments and widening improvements along North Shore, Smiths by Police Beach and resurfacing sections of Middle Road, Happy Valley Road, Orchard Grove and the Airport. In the New Year we will continue our road works from Point Finger to Collector’s Hill South in Smith’s and other areas as the year progresses.

Reducing the number of GP-licensed cars: This was addressed when the OBA first got into office. We quickly identified the amount of GP cars for Ministers and cut the fleet by 50 percent. The remaining cars now form part of a pool of cars, which the Ministers share as required.