Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards yesterday called on Government to pour resources into creating more private sector jobs to halt the decline in Bermuda’s economy.Mr Richards expressed alarm that the number of people working for Government had surpassed those in international business in 2010, as revealed in the Statistics Department’s recent study on unemployment.Private sector jobs earn foreign exchange to help improve the economy, whereas public sector jobs have the opposite effect, the Shadow Minister told fellow MPs.Mr Richards was speaking to kick off a House of Assembly motion on the Statistics Department’s findings that 698 jobs were lost last year, of which 691 were expatriates.He noted a host of negative trends in Bermuda and observed some countries, such as Spain, are currently “on their knees” because so many people are paid by their government for doing nothing.“It leaves us no option other than to promote policies that create employment opportunities in the private sector,” said Mr Richards.“It’s sustainable jobs that we are looking to create. We must use all our means to restore growth in the private sector or our economy.”This must involve removing “impediments to job growth” such as term limits, he said.Describing the report as negative news, he said: “But it’s really not news, is it? Everybody knows employment is down in Bermuda.“All you have to do is come into Hamilton at 8.30 in the morning. That line in East Broadway is not like it was five years ago. That’s a barometer of how bad it’s got in Bermuda.”Mr Richards had opened his speech by stressing the importance of jobs for individuals and the country.Having a job gives people self-esteem and the ability to look after their loved ones, he said, and also allows them to spend money which stimulates the economy.He said Bermudians should be concerned at the number of foreigners leaving the Island because this means less money is coming into the economy.Bermudians should also note their job hopes are hurt when expatriate jobs disappear, he said, explaining: “So long as that position is earmarked for Bermuda, it’s an opportunity for Bermudians.“Once that position moves off the Island, it marks a missed opportunity for a Bermudian.”Historically, Ireland and Jamaica’s economies have suffered badly from people leaving to pursue careers overseas, he said.Economy Minister Patrice Minors replied by listing many Government initiatives to help people into employment, beginning with this week’s announcement of a $500,000 retraining programme at Bermuda College.The waiter service programme has successfully employed 51 people, she said, while a horticultural programme and drywall technician courses will help in their specific fields.She said: “There are opportunities that we will soon be exaggerating our efforts to get information out there so it’s not lost. There are opportunities for employment. There are opportunities for increasing one’s skills to attain employment.“This Government is one that cares. We are looking to provide the retooling of people within the professions in international business and also those that may be in different trades.“This time affords a great opportunity for people to be retrained and redirected in other areas of employment.”She said opportunities are particularly rife in nursing, with more than 600 positions held by non-Bermudians.Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons noted the vast majority of lost jobs had been expatriates.“There are a lot of people who believe that the loss of non-Bermudian jobs is a good thing because it presents an opportunity for Bermudian jobs,” said Dr Gibbons.“In point of fact, the loss of non-Bermudian jobs, particularly those jobs where the job moves out of here to another place, is detrimental to Bermuda.“If a non-Bermudian job disappears it means there’s less opportunity for Bermudians to take that job.”The One Bermuda Alliance MP disputed Government’s claim that its policies have helped Bermudians, pointing to figures showing 2,600 jobs have been lost between 2000 and 2011.Dr Gibbons said this represented a consistent downward trend “through good times and bad times”.“Government says they are doing a commendable job preserving jobs,” he said. “My reaction is: absolute nonsense. We haven’t even been able to protect Bermudian jobs during those good times.”He said the only way to regain overseas investment in Bermuda is to restore the confidence damaged by the current Government.Families Minister Glenn Blakeney said Government has engaged with the private sector in providing concessions to save jobs.He listed a number of European countries he said are struggling as a result of the economic crisis, including Greece, Italy, France and the UK.“People are leaving this country with their British passports to go over there, but aren’t finding it easy,” said Mr Blakeney.Defending Government’s record, he questioned why jobs initiatives hadn’t been mentioned by the Opposition speakers.Shadow Government Estates Minister Cole Simons spoke next, taking Government to task on the topic of small businesses.“The Minister says they care about everyone in the community, but then if you read this report, only companies with ten or more employees were required to report income data for their employees,” Mr Simons said, charging that “we have thousands of people with businesses that employ less than ten people”.“Do they not have a voice?” he asked.Small businesses were “the main machinery for growth”, Mr Simons said, adding: “We’re leaving them behind.”He said Bermuda needed a resources centre for starting small businesses.Mr Simons applauded Government’s Cisco training initiative but went on: “Let’s also have a programme for people to start their own businesses.”Next to speak was Government Estates Minister Michael Scott, commending Government’s “sustained approach” to business since 1998.“This debate affords us the opportunity to make a broad analyses, or narrow, meaningless ones, which is what I have heard from the Opposition,” he said. “If not meaningless, they are false, in comparison to the stellar achievements of this Government.”Government investment building new homes in Dockyard was an example of Government spending creating jobs, he said, as did training initiatives.“At no time in the history of our country has there been more accountability for Government spending,” he added.Of the Cisco training, Mr Scott said: “I was never more gratified than to see the response of interested young boys and girls, interested in upgrading to a meaningful certification under the Cisco programme.”Charging that Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons had said “all the training programmes in the world will not make any difference”, Mr Scott called it “a classic posture of the OBA”.Rising on a point of order, Dr Gibbons retorted: “I said nothing about there being no point in training — training that should have started seven years ago, not in the last few months. I said that if there is not a job, then a training programme is not going to help you.”Mr Scott went on to accuse the Opposition of wilful negativity: “We have been successful to the point where the opposition OBA have no choice but to stand up and create another discourse, one that goes to the polar opposite.”The UBP’s Kim Swan rose next, noting: “We get various accounts as to how the recession came upon us.”He said he agreed with Mr Richards that “warning bells were often consistent, and laughed at”.Mr Swan chastised Government for not putting aside reserves during the years that the economy was doing well.He said the Government should put the same emphasis it places on the bottom line as on people’s lives.Premier Paula Cox said that the Government was the “party of yes” while its critics were “the party of no”.She said the Government’s position is to “support investment and growth and not one that is about cut, slash and austerity”.She said: “You will note that those governments in further shores than ours which espoused the economic model that was focused on austerity have toppled unceremoniously.“This Government is one that is focused on growth, investment and recognises the value of investing in preserving jobs. That is where we stand and that is where we are.”The Premier added that her administration was seeking to open up the Bermuda economy and remove trade barriers.“What our job is to grow the economy, grow the pie as opposed to cutting the pie in different slices. That means you’ve got to open up opportunities for commerce and open up your trading relationships.”Ms Cox noted that “Governments of the future are looking at what are the opportunities for the future and to create and grow the pie.”That meant creating “economic centres” that can generate revenue. But Government is also focused on helping the vulnerable.“Job creation is the way this economy will recover,” the Premier concluded.“And it will recover because we are putting in place sound defensible, rational policies that inspire confidence and that cause people to want to bring people here.”And she criticised those who want to “promote the pabulum that there hasn’t been any adverse effect by a global recession.”“Because this Government has never said that they have no responsibility for anything. But we have said let’s be realistic now. So let’s not be mischievous.”Bermuda Government is a top employer — a fact which demonstrates its commitment to preserve jobs. She said while Government is embarking on efficiency reviews. But her administration will not follow others’ advice to cut jobs. “Where are those people going to go? Who’s going to take care of them? What’s going to happen?”The Opposition had the luxury of saying “anything that may be cloud cuckoo land” because they would not be made accountable.And she said it was wrong to suggest that the Government had not been implementing training programmes as the National Training Board had been working hard since 1998.She pointed to the expansion of economic empowerment zones to the east and west ends of the Island as promoting “centres of excellence and enterprise and entrepreneurship.”The Premier said that she had received feedback from small business people who were happy with the economic model and only wanted “little things addressed”.“We are not only going to deal with the little things, we are also going to deal with the big ideas.”Opposition Spokesperson for Seniors Louise Jackson then rose to appeal to Government to assist the elderly with legislation prohibiting age discrimination to remove a barrier for them to work.She reminded her colleagues that half of all seniors were living below the poverty line and many needed to work. And she cited an example of an elderly couple who could not afford health insurance for both of them.Seniors, she said, had been more impacted by the recession than any other group of people.“They are desperate for jobs. But this Government has not seen fit to do something that would help them immensely,” she said.“And that is to include in the Human Rights Act, age discrimination.”Ms Jackson said: “I can’t for the life of me see why this Government is being so slow to do this.”Families Minister Glenn Blakeney rose to say that age discrimination legislation was not a simple matter as it applied to all ages.“It’s not just a question of age discrimination being looked at for seniors only.”Ms Jackson said: “I do understand the dilemma and I still plead for help there.”OBA MP Pat Gordon-Pamplin criticised the Government for what she said was an arrogant attitude toward Opposition recommendations.“When we make recommendations in terms of how we can improve the plight of our people, we are laughed at and scorned,” she said.And she noted that “growth and austerity are not mutually exclusive”.Ignoring austerity measures will lead to more debt, taxes and business failures, Ms Gordon-Pamplin added.She said that many firms were now outsourcing work offshore.“Something is wrong when our local businesses — the majority of their time, effort and energy is being spent trying to move jobs offshore, recognising the challenges that are existing for the people of Bermuda.”And she called on Government to be honest about the economic reality.“When a party that is in Government does things in isolation in its own cocoon and it refuses to change and adopt innovative ideas because its coming from somewhere else, you’re going to get the same results.”OBA Leader Craig Cannonier said it was critical to have a certain level of employment for Bermuda’s economic survival. “If I draw back to this graph, we’re not there yet.”The Bermuda Job Market Employment Briefs reveals where the opportunities are, he said.“Sixty five percent of the pharmacists in this country are foreign, a job that does well by those Bermudians that are involved in it.”But he said Bermuda had done a poor job in letting young people know where the opportunities are before going overseas for higher education.“Numbers do not lie. Five years ago we saw the trend, and every entrepreneur in this room — people who work in business — know that when you start seeing those trends you act immediately,” he said.“There needs to be a sense of urgency of now. Three thousand plus Bermudians are not working right now. And they don’t want to hear about something that’s coming in the future, they want to know what are we doing about right now.”He said: “If you’re open for business, then turn the lights on. Because Bermudians want to get back to work.”Charles Swan, of the United Bermuda Party, rose to say that the economy had to rely on people from overseas because the population is not growing and many young people who go away to school sometimes do not want to come back to the Island.“Our young people need to know that there is opportunity here and you can go and grab it. But it comes at a price — it’s not going to be handed to you.”He said: “I am an eternal optimist. I know things are going to get better but I do think it’s going to take a lot of time.”