The message in the Budget with regards to Bermuda’s dwindling population was clear — “we need growth to grow opportunity”.

During his Budget speech, Minister of Finance Bob Richards said that the island’s immigration “doctrine” dates back to when Bermuda was “bursting at the seams” with baby boomers.

“Fast forward to today,” he continued, “the demographics have reversed, but the doctrine hasn’t.”

“Today, we need to encourage people to come here to live, to grow the population, to grow consumer spending, to grow earnings of foreign capital, to grow the tax base, to live in our vacant houses, and thereby grow opportunities for Bermudians,” Mr Richards said.

“The more people who are resident on the island, the greater those aggregates will be and the greater the scope for personal opportunity.”

The minister’s remarks pointed to the One Bermuda Alliance’s controversial Pathways to Status initiative that has sparked outrage from sections of the community.

If the policy is adopted, those who have lived in Bermuda for 15 years could apply for permanent residency, and those who have a permanent residency certificate, having lived on the island for 20 years, could seek Bermudian status.

This week, protesters chanting “no, no, no” and “no to OBA immigration reform”, shut down home affairs minister Michael Fahy’s meeting on immigration reform on Wednesday evening.

Protesters also staged a demonstration at the first sitting of the House of Assembly of the year, on February 12.

The demonstrations followed a call for “civil disobedience” by former shadow immigration minister Walton Brown in face of the announcement of the OBA’s proposals.

Many believe granting permanent residency and Bermudian status to long-term residents could create unfair competition for born Bermudians in the job market. The OBA has also been criticised for its lack of a bipartisan approach to drawing up policy.

Mr Richards likened the need to update immigration policy, as well as any laws and policies, to the need to update the ios (operating systems) on your iPhone saying: “They need to be updated or else they will no longer serve the purpose of today’s users. We need to update our immigration policy to better serve Bermudians today and tomorrow. This is the reality and logic behind the Government’s new Pathways to Status initiative.”