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Our Policies
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The Free Democratic Movement was established on September 1st 2020 in response to the major challenges facing Bermuda. Our formation has a triune purpose:
- To maintain and uphold a two-party democratic system.
- To provide policies to stimulate our economy.
- To assume Government on October 2nd 2020. Our formation is significant for another reason.
Our presence will permit voters to choose a candidate without any consideration of race, for the first time in Bermuda’s electoral history. It is our goal to ensure that all Bermudians and residents are the beneficiaries of a free, peaceful, and prosperous society.
The FDM is committed to reforming the Education system to devolve control from the Ministry of Education and place it in the hands of the school boards, principals, teachers and parents who have a vested interest in the students they serve. The Bermuda College will also be reformed to provide degree-level qualifications, inclusive of both academic and technical/vocational skills, and function as the premier academic research institution on-island.
The FDM will ensure full implementation of its colour-coded sector plans:
Silver Economy
Bermuda's economic revival of financial technology, artificial intelligence, 5-G telecommunications, online education, remote work, and app development.
Blue Economy
The Blue Economy’s initial emphasis will be on offshore fishing within our Exclusive Economic Zone. This will lead to new job opportunities, provide foreign currency, and create additional revenue streams for the government. Based on the quotas allocated to Bermuda, it is estimated that the market value for this seafood resource is $200 million USD per annum.
Orange Economy (Tourism, Creative Arts and Sports)
The spirit of Bermuda lies in our hospitality. We must create a product that will provide value for money to millions of persons that fly over us each year. Whether it’s the food, music, entertainment or sporting activities and events, we can only compete when we are our authentic selves.
Green Economy
The FDM will legalize the recreational use of cannabis, thus creating a market-based industry that will be supported by private sector licensing frameworks for its production and distribution by Bermudians.
To successfully implement all other reforms, the FDM government will introduce a series of pro-growth policies. These policies will reduce or eliminate excessive regulations, significantly decrease the size of the government and consolidate its role.
An open society is a more prosperous one. This has always been true. While the rest of the world becomes ever more closed, centralized, less private, with more fragile presumptions of innocence, we Bermudians have a chance to become a living example of the opposite. Going forward, we will serve as a haven for those who truly desire freedom, with all its attendant, individual and collective, rights and responsibilities. The FDM will address the injustices that our friends, families and loved ones have experienced in a fair, open and rational manner. This policy will avoid net loss to Bermudians, whilst bringing a mutual benefit to society.
The next FDM Government will reform our healthcare operations into an integrative system, a hybrid of modern and traditional medicine.
The FDM will take a zero-tolerance approach to corruption. We will ensure transparency and accountability across all Government activities.
The FDM will increase the retirement age to 70 and set up a defined contribution pension program for all new public sector hires.
The FDM is committed to transitioning Bermuda towards a sustainable energy system. This means transitioning from fossil-fuelled power plants (centralised generation) to distributed generation, including renewable energy sources such as PV solar, off-shore wind turbines or wave energy. Our goal is to build a clean and affordable energy system that restores hope to our young people and brings pride to our community.
Sustainable development, based on a system of economic growth that respects the needs of our people and the natural resources of our unique island, will allow us to improve the living conditions of our populace whilst safeguarding our future. This means that we must explore new ways of producing what we need and change our habits of consumption.
Community leadership, at all levels of civic society and government, is the most effective way to ensure a free, peaceful, and prosperous society. In our view, the Free Democratic Movement is an ideal vehicle for achieving that objective at this critical stage in our political life.
You have just read the Vision and Aims of the Free Democratic Movement. If you are interested in participating in the movement or supporting the FDM, please contact our office at 297-2326 or email us at vote@fdmbermuda.com
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Time For A Change
An Unprecedented Rise
In these unprecedented times, our community is looking for leaders who are prepared to focus on bringing tangible solutions to our growing challenges as opposed to making winning elections a priority through political expediency.
Bermuda's pandemic started a long time before COVID-19, and truth be told, COVID-19, simply put, represents the straw that has broken the camel's back.
Never in the lifetime of any Bermudian have we collectively experienced a situation anywhere near the proportion of COVID-19, and likewise, never in our collective history have we as a country experienced such social and economic decline.
The difference between COVID-19 and our social/economic pandemic is that the former was conceived outside BDA while the latter has clearly been homegrown.
Our Vision
Freedom Bequeathed to All
Our presence will leverage the burgeoning disgruntlement with the status quo leadership, empower the electorate to rise above race politics and neutralize the threat of a unitarian government. The formation of the Free Democratic Movement also reflects the reality that there is a large body of grassroots leadership, ready to be mobilized and challenge the general election in 2020 rather than 2025. Our movement has four key purposes:
- To maintain and uphold a healthy democratic system
- To provide a vision and policies that stimulate Bermuda's economic and cultural development.
- To effectively move beyond identity and race politics
- To cultivate the manifestation of an open, benevolent and free society