Unethical business and poor governance have been revealed in the volumes of e-mails released by the People’s Campaign, according to Leader of the Opposition Marc Bean and Deputy Leader David Burt.

Both said that Finance minister Bob Richards ought to tender his resignation over the conduct of the deal for a new terminal at LF Wade International Airport, but neither held out hope for an investigation by Government House.

“It would be customary to call on Premier Michael Dunkley to show that he will not condone this activity in his Cabinet and under his leadership,” Mr Bean said. “It would also be customary to warn the Premier that failure to act will show that he supports this behaviour, and that is an indictment on the entire OBA government.

“Unfortunately, I am obligated to state what must be apparent and obvious to all at this point in time. The habits of wilfully poor governance, cronyism and corruption are not the issues of one or two ministers of Cabinet. Rather, it is a problem that is systemic within the higher levels of the OBA as an entity.”

Mr Bean said the minister had injured the Island’s reputation, and misled the House of Parliament by maintaining there had been no previous relationship with the contractor Aecon, which would be taken on by the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC).

“Now we see evidence in these documents that Aecon was using CCC only as a front, and that Aecon was the preferred contractor the whole time,” Mr Bean said.

The CCC has acknowledged that Aecon approached them over the business opportunity presented in Bermuda. According to the CCC, it subsequently agreed to take on Aecon for the job. However, the Progressive Labour Party has said e-mails show a concerted effort, possibly known to Mr Richards, to obscure giving the contract to Aecon.

“For the Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance to admit in an e-mail that he ‘fuzzied up the no new debt part’ speaks to his character and lends me to question what else has this minister ‘fuzzied up’,” Mr Burt said, adding that Mr Richards’s statement that he could sidestep the competitive procurement process for the project “should alarm all Bermudians”.

“The internal machinations revealed in these e-mails display a callous disregard for the interests of this country and there is a strong inference to be drawn that this country’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance is either complicit or acquiesced in this entire affair. It is now clear to all that this deal is not honest and is without merit. It cannot proceed and it must be stopped immediately.”

The airport proposal is up for debate tomorrow in Parliament.