What happens in Parliament is everyone’s business

In the United States of America, the C-SPAN broadcast facility is often the subject of late-night comedy hosts’ barbs for its rather boring content.

The non-profit network, which was established in 1979 provides wall-to-wall coverage of what is happening in the US House of Representatives, with full coverage also of the contributions of elected Senators.

When the House and Senate are not in session, other public information programmes are featured for public consumption. There are no advertisements on its television and radio programmes and the feeds from debates are unfiltered.

In Barbados, we have elevated the process for distilling the news from the House of Assembly, through Parliament’s YouTube channel. In years past, Barbadians depended on the skillful reporting from Parliamentary mavens in the local media such as Albert Branford, the late Charles Harding and Tony Vanterpool.

Often times, they became entangled in controversy with politicians of the day who expressed displeasure with the way some reports portrayed their contributions in the august chamber.

Newsroom history will reveal there was even an occasion when a Speaker of the House of Assembly instituted action against a local reporter over his parliamentary coverage.

History aside, Parliament is not the most exciting place to be if a person is seeking stimulation. However, our Parliament represents an integral part of the power base in our country and its members have the authority to introduce new legislation or amend existing laws.

At the moment, the country is facing what some have characterised as a crisis with gun crimes and the escalating number of murders.

In a matter of two to three weeks, murder cases jumped from 16 to 27. Naturally, people expect our political leaders to shape some kind of response.

Not long ago when there was a major spike in shootings and armed robberies, the administration responded with an amendment to the Bail Act which required a person charged with a gun crime or murder to be remanded for at least two years before they could be considered for bail.

However, that was ruled unconstitutional by the High Court. Since then, our legislators took even more drastic action by introducing new anti-gun laws which took effect in 2023 that will result in those found guilty of even being in possession of an unlicenced gun, sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Section 29 (2) of the Act states “A person who aids, abets, counsels or procures another or conspires with another to commit an offence under this Act, is guilty of an offence and is liable to the same punishment as is provided for that offence”.

Section 30 indicates that for a first offence a convicted person could serve a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison, and for a second offence, a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

So far, the public has not seen any cases come before the courts for adjudication of those who have been charged since the tough laws became effective in 2023.

High Court Judge Carlisle Greaves has frequently warned those who came before him on gun charges that were they to be charged again and found guilty, chances are they will be imprisoned for a very long time.

The problem is that despite the implementation of tough laws, they have not impacted the gun crime situation. Why? We suggest it is as a result of the infamously slow justice system.

If our justice system worked with more dispatch, the tough gun laws could have had the deterring effect law makers intended when it was introduced.

Keeping tabs on what is happening in Parliament is also critical for other reasons. Government has been introducing other far-reaching pieces of legislation of which the average man on the street has no clue.

There have been many changes to legislation governing the operation of boats and other watercraft such as jet skis and pleasure boats. These include requirements to be licensed with a new government authority to be formed, the legal requirement of insurance; that operators must show proof of specific training in order to operate in Barbados’ waters, laws governing the disposal of sewage, oils and other contaminants from boats, among other changes.

Interestingly, these legislative changes were not imposed on fishing vessels, which is ironic given the dire situation confronting the sector since the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1.