Miller rejects key staff plans

| 11/11/2009

(CNS): The independent MLA from North Side, Ezzard Miller, has confirmed that he will not back the UDP government over any legislative changes to the current immigration law on requirements for key employee status applications. Criticising the premier’s decision to offer all senior professionals in the financial services industry key employee status if they wanted it, without any burden of proof on their part, Miller said it was tantamount to giving away Caymanian status again. Miller told CNS that while he was all for rolling out the red carpet to business and reducing work permit bureaucracy, key employee status should only be given in the rarest of circumstances.  

“The whole point is that they are key, that they are exceptional,” Miller said, and explained he was particularly concerned by the directives which have been issued to immigration and the relevant boards that senior personnel working in the finance sector would no longer have to prove that they are key. “It proposes that the boards will need to prove they shouldn’t get it rather than the other way round, altering the burden of proof, which is wrong,” he added.

Among the government’s revision of immigration policy, designed to attract new business and old business back to the Cayman Islands, is a new initiative regarding applications for key employee for senior professionals. The premier, McKeeva Bush, said last week that in the case of senior finance staff there would be a presumption that the applicant meets the requirements in the law unless this can be rebutted.

Miller, however, said this was the wrong approach as it would usher in a significant number of people that would be entitled to permanent residency and therefore Caymanian status without having to prove their worth to the island. These changes, he suggested, would make key employee designation the norm rather than the exception.

The independent and outspoken MLA said that he had always believed that every application for key employee should have to meet all of the criteria in the law and not just one or two. “Those given this should prove that not only are they in short supply here and around the world but that they are fundamental to the business in question and, most of all, that they can train Caymanians.”

Miller said that under the proposed changes, to which he objected, people would now be awarded this privilege, which would put them on the road to Caymanian status, without demonstrating their value or their ability to train Caymanians into the roll which they had been designated as key. “Never mind the glass ceiling, this is converting it to a concrete ceiling,” Miller exclaimed.

Attracting new business was important, he acknowledged, but it was equally important to protect Caymanians in the financial services sector as well and those who would want to be a part of it in the future. He accepted that offering the key employee status to partners who were bringing investment could be beneficial, but he suggested some kind of quota or control of these numbers.

The North Side representative made it clear that he would not back this change and said that, more importantly, government could not just make such a fundamental change to the immigration law without legislative amendments, and he would certainly not vote for it.

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  1. Building a future says:

    I can’t add to the discussion with any details regarding the financial services industry, I don’t know much about it.  But, I was a builder of houses where I’m from, and if told someone I would remove all the doors and windows in seven years, I would not have had much business. And my reputation would have suffered.   With all due respect, I say this to Mr. Miller  If some changes with regard to immigration policy DO NOT take place, there won’t be ANY financial services industry to train ANYONE for.

  2. Thank you! says:

    My business plan on why a large section of my company’s administrative functions are better taking place away from Cayman and why we should reduce the size the Cayman office was made all the better by a few juicy quotes from Ezzard to highlight the problems faced by those doing business here.  The point about cost of human capital because we would have to jettison staff after 7 years made the proposal much easier.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I don’t normally waste my time to respond to persons who do not have enough confidence, competence of belief in their own postings to sign their names but I most respond to the two latest re Singapore and minister of education.

    I do not believe Mr. Lee built Singapore by granting people citizenship an allowing foreigners to control the economic and therefore the political forces.

    As for the new students graduating from ICCI an UCCI all that is necessary for the Minister of Education who is also the Minister of Labour to do is cancel 600 permits still leave 26, 400 work permits in place.

    Ezzard Miller 

    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you Mr. Miller – the 600 permits that you think should be canceled just cost the Government approximately US$5.4 million for 2010.  Not too mention the spin off losses from 600 people plus families leaving the island.

      The real loss to Government coffers would probably be closer to $8 million, and that assumes that none of the companies who just lost experienced workers don’t decide to move to another jurisdiction.

      But since the government is running such a huge surplus these days, the lost revenue is nota problem.  Besides, all you have to do is another round of fee increases on the private sector.

      This is how downward spirals start – I won’t mention how they end.

    • Anon says:

      Mr. Miller, I urge you to study the reasons behind the economic success of the State of Israel as a nation and look into the causes behind their success.

      Despite a horrendous security situation, they have a very progressive immigration policy which is credited with much of the economic success of the State of Israel.

    • Anonymous says:

      This protectionist ideology expounded by Mr Ezzard Miller is very unsettling as it is designed to divide the country and create great social unrest within this community. It is obvious that Mr. Miller’s devisive world view is self serving.

      Ezzard Miller is an MLA with a particular world view, what worries me is the weekly platform provided by Cayman Crosstalk which gives credence to this world view.

      Ezzard’s intimate knowledge of the inner thoughts of expats is completely misguided. To say that expats only do service work for immigration purposes and then cease such charity work after receiving PR or status is completely untrue and personally offensive.

      Examine the make up of every charity on the island and you will find many many expats who serve and care deeply about the country and the people.

      How dare Mr Miller claim such unkind rants?

      • Anonymous says:

        "To say that expats only do service work for immigration purposes and then cease such charity work after receiving PR or status is completely untrue and personally offensive".

        I agree that there are many expats who do make positive, meaningful contributions to our community, and there is no doubt that our charities would suffer greatly without them.  We welcome them. If you are one of them then you ought not to take Mr. Miller’s comments personally as I am sure he was not making a general comment about all expats. However, Mr. Miller is absolutely right is that there are (perhaps even more) expats who seek to beat the system by joining a service club etc. a year or two before the relevant PR application. Personally, I have seen people who claim to be blood donors where it turned out to be that they had only recently signed up and had never actually given blood. This is not about the "inner thoughts" of expats.   

         

        • Anonymous says:

          Unfortunately I know expats that fit into that category of only doing service work in an attempt to beat the system and I find them to be very distasteful. But there are many who do contribute to the betterment of the country.

          It is such a great way to feel a sense of belonging and contribution toward the betterment of the society. I would strongly recommend everyone regardless of immigration statue or being a born Caymanian to contribute toward the betterment of the society.

    • Captain Nemo says:

      This is written in the style of a third rate high school debate team.  What does "competence of belief in their own postings" mean?  It is unintelligible gibberish. Which is much like Mr. Miller’s comments on economics of which he appears to know nothing other than knee jerk protectionsim.  This man is out of his depth. 

      We don’t sign our names because we don’t have free speech in this country because we are living in times of obvious political oppression and intimidation. 

       

      • Anonymous says:

        Captain Nemo, instead of you wasting time on here correcting gramatical errors and throwing slurs at Caymanians you may want to consider moving to another jurisdiction where tolerance of your bigotry and abrasive attitude exists. Your insults regarding Ezzard Miller’s writing style is totally irrelevant to most of us – we understand "Caymanian speak" quite well and fully support his views.  What these Cayman Islands need is more of him and fewer of your kind.

        • Aye aye Cap'n says:

          So you are saying that "competence of belief" means something intelligible in "Caymanian speak"?  Pull the other one, it has bells on it.

  4. Anonymous says:

     Ezzard would run this country into the ground.  Cayman has to have faith in the vision of Mr Bush for Cayman to be the Singapore of the Caribbean.  To do so it has to have sympathetic immigration policies.  Without that the kids at school today have a mediocre future.

    • Anonymous says:

      You are an idiot. With Bush’s plan there is no future for the kids or any of you Caymanians.

      • Anonymous says:

        I retort with an argument of equal intellectual force as your own:

        "You have a big nose."

        • Captain Nemo says:

          In that case he might have a carrer as an MLA – it makes more sense as an argument than most of what Ezzard says.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Mr. Miller could you please askthe Minister for Education where will the next six (6) hundred students will go next June 2010 after leaving school.

    The UCCI and ICCI is full now and is this Government prepared for these young school leavers.

    Please let us know and many thanks

    my 2cents

     

  6. Anonymous says:

    If Caymanians want to have more of their people in the job market they have to earn it!  Just like everyone else everywhere else.  If Caymanians want to be respected for their good working ethics they as a people need to earn it just like everyone else everywhere else. If they want a heathy robust financial system, a heathy working tourism product and most importantly a goverment that works for and not against its own people then guess what?  Thats right Caymanians are just like everyone else everywhere else in this regard.  If you want something it takes real work to get it.  Crying, complaining,pointing fingers, just proves you don’t have what it takes.

    Look at what you have now!  A failing tourism product.  A failing financial system.  A failed Goverment. A failed education system,  More violent crime.  Increasing cost of living.  Guess why you have all of this?

    Would you like this to change?  Guess what you have to do? (hint:No crying, complaining,pointing fingers etc. etc.)  Its something you have NOT been doing.  Take RESPONSABILITY!   Or you will lose it.  Think I’m wrong?  Go ahead and and keep complaining and pointing your fingers at people like me.  Lets see what keeps happening and what changes.
     

    Good Luck, Your going to need it.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Ironic eh? We have a failing financial industry and tourism product despite having handed out thousands of work permits, residencies and statuses to people who were apparently much more experienced and qualified than most Caymanians. And yet, we are still failing. So how is handing out more work permits and residencies going to fix this?

      Nobody is saying that foreigners are not needed, but why is the solution to this the 5 year permit?

      • Anonymous says:

        Thanks for proving my point.

      • Anonymous says:

        Until more Caymanians go out and get the education and experiance neede to fill some of these jobs There will allways be a need for expats.  SIMPLE.  You want the job.  You need the training and experiance.  You won’t get it on Cayman. You would be lucky to get a basic high school education in Cayman.  You would be lucky to learn a good work ethic in Cayman.  See the problem?  Maybe you should ask (tell) your goverment to fix this(good luck).  Look at your current School (never to be finished) system)

        So yes UNTIL this happens Cayman needs the foreigners to come and work the jobs AND be happy to do it or continue to complain and do nothing worthwhile about educating Caymanians to fill the needed positions.   Or just watch as things continue downward.  Your choice. Personally I think you will just continue to do what you do best.

        • Anonymous says:

          You did a lot of rambling about what Caymanians need to do to fill the positions but you have not answered how handing out a 5 year work permit is the solution to this. Even when Caymanians have all the experience and qualification needed, wouldn’t they now be even less likely to be moved to a position when somebody with a 5 year permit is sitting there since the permit doesn’t come up for renewal for 5 years (instead of 2 years)?

  7. Anon says:

    You know…lets take a step back and take a breath.

    Then maybe we might all realise how devisive this guy is towards this wonderful island and its population of Caymanians and Expats (equals in my eyes).

    He has stirred the pot to boiling point, then stepped back and watched everyone fight and bicker bitterly. This gentleman has done little towards improving matters. He makes it worse. Just look at the posts below and the outpourings of hate from bothsides.

    It just makes me very sad that one politician can stir up such hatred.

  8. Anonymous says:

    time for an expat one day strike…. lets see what happens then… maybe caymanians will then understand the importance of educated, motivated expats

  9. Anonymous says:

    Mrs. Ebanks if you did your homework you would probably find that not even one of the alleged "1000" unemployed have a chance in hell of filling a position in the financial sector – so your comments to this bear no relevance at all.  

    • Anonymous says:

      "Mrs. Ebanks if you did your homework you would probably find that not even one of the alleged "1000" unemployed have a chance in hell of filling a position in the financial sector – so your comments to this bear no relevance at all."  

      I beg to differ. But then again maybe you are right. We don’t stand a chance because you all think that Caymanians are only qualified to clean your homes or serve you at the restaurants. You see I am one of those "1000" who is registered there. The company I worked for has closed leaving me with a Bachelors degree in accounting, years of experience in the financial sector and the "unemployed" status as I was told that the positions I applied for were for work permit renewals.

  10. tee says:

    I’m a simple person and usually need information to form a rational opinion, save for a few posts this has degenerated into and ‘us’ and ‘them’ match.

    Does anyone know how many people we are talking about? How many of them don’t already qualify as Key?  I thought that they were only talking about CEO’s/CFO’s and the like.  

    From the posts it appears that there is an assumption that this is more widespread than I thought, or is that a wrong assumption?

  11. Anonymous says:

    Getting straight to the point…….

    somebody please name an individual with proper qualification and experience in the financial industry who held a senior position, has provided equal opportunity for Caymanians at the workplace, integrated him/herself into Cayman society and has made an investment (in the form of property etc), and was otherwise a law abiding citizen has been refused a work permit or gotten rolled over? Even IF a potential roll over would be looming, that company would probably send that key-employee to an office in another jurisdiction until they can come back again.

    Please name a company who has up left PURELY due to immigration issue (not because of overhead, location etc.). Please name them. Provide some percentages and statistics.

    • Anonymous says:

      "Purely" – that is impossible to say what other people have done for "purely" one reason.

      Goldman, Citco, Citigroup, UBS, Fortis, Butterfield and Maples Finance have all moved staff due to the big 2 of cost and immigration.

      The main problem is that they are forced to hire CPAs/CAs here to do work that would normally be done by post-grad accountants in other jurisdictions.  That is both a cost and immigration issue.

      I would estimate the job loss from those 7 shops at around 500 positions – this reflects both direct and indirect job losses.

      – Directs loss meaning jobs that have been announced as moving out of Cayman to other jurisdications – Goldman, Citigroup and Maples Finance.

      – Indirect loss meaning people that were hired in Canada, Ireland or the U.S. to work on Cayman-domiciled funds that would have otherwise been hired here in Cayman.  This is difficult to quantify but suffice to say that Citco would not have 500 staff in Toronto to service Cayman funds and only 60 people here in Cayman.

      Think about how crazy that is – Canada has one of the highest tax rates in the OECD and miserable weather.  Yet they still set up their main operation up there to service CAYMAN FUNDS.

      • Anonymous says:

        All the companies you have named above have moved their depts etc to cut cost. Cost is very complex and is not made up of immigration issues alone. In fact, I feel very confident to say that very few if any of these positions were moved because of immigration issues.

        You state that they are being forced to hire CPAs instead of post grad accountants. Who is forcing them to do so?

        I am working in a financial institution that over the last 5 years has gradually moved an entire dept to another jurisdiction to cut cost, not because they couldn’t get the right people through the immigration pipeline. Doing this has allowed us to significantly reduce office space (and as such the related overhead cost for least, electricity, IT support etc.). Also, the people who are doing the work over there are doing it for a fraction of the salary and benefits what is the market rate here (which needs to be paid for someone to be able to survive in Cayman due to the out of control cost of living).

        All I am asking is how handing out 5 year work permits is going to fix it all? There is much more to it. Why not lobby to reduce the cost of doing business in Cayman (which clearly has nothing to do with immigration). I think that is is very ironic that all costs have been increased (ROC fees, work permit fees etc), which is detrimental to the businesses, however, we are expected to let the gates of immigration open wide because this is supposed to be the fix all? Come on!

        • Anonymous says:

          I can’t tell if you are debating me or agreeing with me.  How many Caymanians have been helped by your company moving jobs to another jurisdication?  So hopefully we agree that the plan should be to get companies to increase their presence in Cayman rather than reduce it.  Now the question is how do we accomplish this?

          You seem to think that cost is set in stone and there is nothing Cayman can do to make the jurisdiction more affordable.  The Government should be (and I believe that Mac is starting this process) of looking at steps to reduce costs for companies.  Ideas such as:

          – Cutting work permit fees for companies that hire more than 25 or 50 Caymanians (or something like that). 

          – Eliminating or reducing the pension contribution for ex-pats.  Working with DART and other developers to subsidize rent for companies that set-up or expand in Cayman.

          – Providing government sponsored training and education for Caymanian workers.

          – Working with CUC and LIME to cut operational costs.

          These are just some ideas off the top of my head – based on the packages that some of the Canadian juridictions such as Halifax are putting together.  If we all work together, we can put a pretty competitive package together.

          Don’t forget that we have the advantage of no tax and great weather.

          Also, please consider that the immigration problems and cost are highly linked – as I said, you are forced to hire CPAs to do basic accounting work. The reason that you can’t hire non-CPAs to do accounting work is that Immigration would not grant their work permit.  If they do not have a qualification, they cannot work in a professional job.  At least that is how it works in fund administration.

          And I have never run into a Caymanian with an accounting designation that is unemployed.  In fact, we have posted many jobs and not gotten even one Caymanian resume since it required an accounting degree or experience.

          And having your employees rolled over and then needing to train new employees is another cost and operational burden.  Not too mention that for senior management sitting in another jurisdiction, the whole immigration process is a burden that they just don’t want to deal with.

          In summary, you are correct that the exodus of companies is not due solely to immigration, but it is a part of the problem and also contributes to the bigger problem of costs.

          • Anonymous says:

            "The Government should be (and I believe that Mac is starting this process) of looking at steps to reduce costs for companies.  Ideas such as..Cutting work permit fees"

            Have you been asleep? Didn’t you hear that the budget of the new govt. has substantially increased the costs of doing business, in particular by adding a tax to office space leases and the costs of permits?    

            • Anonymous says:

              You know that he had to do that because of the UK.

              I was referring to the next year’s budget.  They are looking at some weighs to provide rebates and incentives for companies that grow in Cayman.

              Let’s hope Mac ignores Ezzard and the PPM and decides to go in that direction!

  12. Anonymous says:

    I can not believe the arrogance that is displayed on this blog by some expats/work permit holders. Ironically, Caymanians are constantly being accused of entitlement issues but it seems that it is the expats who feel that they have a RIGHT to be here, get work, get residency and eventually status. Why don’t you try this in any other country and see how well it goes for you? How many people do you believe this country should and can absorb? I bet you all are the first ones to cry when a foreign national gets a job over one of your relatives back home. I don’t believe that anybody has ever said to get rid of ALL expats is the solution, but there have to be some meassures in place. No country in the world will sit back and watch that their native population will slide to the minority.

    • MacMan says:

      if these expats really belong here then I am sure that the government will say so. Just because the PPM did not think that people deserved to get status does not mean that there were decent folk who deserved it. Our new leader sees what is right and if he decides that the country needs more status holders who are we to disagree?

      God bless him.

       

      • Anonymous says:

        Poor you! Your response is so lame I don’t even know what to say….

  13. Anonymous says:

    Wow. There are some very scary, short sighted responses to this article.

    Mrs Ebanks should understand that the current immigration law is reducing the number of jobs for Caymanians, not protecting them. More and more businesses are setting up satellite offices in onshore locations due to the cost of doing business in Cayman. By cost I mean both financial (work permit) and operational (staff turnover/brain drain).

    My company has a satellite office and may have to transfer more work from Cayman during 2010 to stay within our budgets. We cannot pass on the additional work permit costs to clients as other domiciles are already charging less for similar services and therefore have to find savings in other ways. We set the satellite office up a few years ago to address staff turnover, which was fuelled massively by immigration law and the anti-expat sentiment. Staff turnover is the principal reason we have lost business over the last 4-5 years.

    It worries me when elected officials seem naive to this. Fortunately, I believe McKeeva Bush gets it and hopefully can stem the tide. Stemming the tide will be a great result. Bringing back what has already gone is almost impossible as those companies that have, and are currently, investing in satellite offices have invested too much to reverse the decision. As a Cayman property owner and contributing member of the community I have a vested interest in the island’s success and future. I understand my role in bringing new business to Cayman, which supports a number of Caymanians’ jobs. This makes some of the responses frankly, offensive.

    • Anonymous says:

      None of the "mediocre mafia" will reply to this post because they would rather just bash Mac on the head rather than post anything of substance.

      This post is exactly right and the trend of companies exporting jobs has been accelerating over the past 18 months.

      I don’t know if Mac is making all of the right decisions, but he is at least trying to do something to grow the economy.  The last crew sat around as company after company either shut down or sent jobs to other jurisdictions.

      • Ezzard won't care says:

        Ezzard is more interested in populist soundbites than what is best for long term Caymanian employment – that is the only reason that he is so protectionist, he must by now realise that it is costing jobs.

        Long live the "mafia of the mediocre" they are "qualified" and know the number of immigration – armed with that who cares if you can do the job well.

    • Anonymous says:

      The divide that exists between expatriates and Caymanians will unfortunately continue to grow when faced with comments such as this. The power of greed to the detriment of Caymanians will continue as is very clear by your comments "My company has a satellite office and may have to transfer more work from Cayman during 2010 to stay within our budgets". Notice is taken of your reasons and I suggest that your claim of a vested interest in this country is purely materialistic and economic, hence the reason you have no sacrifice to make that will assist unemployed Caymanians.

       

      • Anonymous says:

        Wow – that is a great analysis.  Did you ever think that if this person put the needs of unemployed Caymanians ahead of the owners of the business – that they might shut the business down altogether or move out of Cayman?

        Then not only would the few people be out of jobs, but an additional 50 or maybe 100 people, including 50% Caymanians.

        People here don’t get that decision makers sitting outside of Cayman have no interest in supporting the Cayman economy or Caymanian workers.  For that matter, they don’t care about ex-pats or pretty much anyone else.

        They only care about their company’s bottom line – and if Cayman can contribute to the bottom line, they will invest here.  If not, then they will move their investment elsewhere.

        It doesn’t matter if this is right or wrong or moral or immoral.  It is the reality of the world.  Cayman will either need to grasp this and get on board  or reject it and go on a different path.

        Only Caymanians can make this decision – but they need to be wary of living with the unintended consequences of their decisions.

    • Anonymous says:

      I am neither UDP nor PPM as I am wont to criticise wrong wherever it happens. However, I find it hard to believe that you are a foreign national working here since you seem to spout the UDP line without any grasp of the concepts. It is sometimes laughable to hear certain individuals so worried about and vehemently opposed to "direct" taxation when they have not even bothered to pay their garbage fees in the last five years.

      Here are some of your arguments that I have difficulty in reconciling, so perhaps you can respond (after being suitably informed) and clarify.

      1. "More and more businesses are setting up satellite offices in onshore locations due to the cost of doing business in Cayman."

      2. "We cannot pass on the additional work permit costs to clients as other domiciles are already charging less for similar services and therefore have to find savings in other ways."

      3. "Fortunately, I believe McKeeva Bush gets it and hopefully can stem the tide."

      In the most recent budget, McKeeva increased your work permit fees and added and office space fee as well. How can you say McKeeva "gets it" when he was the one that increased your cost of doing business?

      This increase in fees was necessary because the $5 million collected annually for garbage fees has been deemed unnecessary. So the voters who own their own homes get to save the $100 per year and that cost is instead taken from people like you who have come here to work.

      Oops. I forgot. You are not really a foreign national are you?

       

  14. Mrs. Ebanks says:

     

    Ezzard, thank you for standing up for the Caymanian people! The 5 year work permits will NOT benefit the Caymanian people in the long run.
     
    If we accept 5 year work permits it will become more difficult for Caymanian’s (qualified & experienced) to advance in the workplace. In the long run this will increase our social problems and will be detrimental to the future generation of this country.
     
    Cayman’s work permit policies should be designed to enable Caymanian’s to realise their full employment potential. Implementing 5 year work permits in a time when over 1,000 Caymanian’s are unemployed and when so many are being made redundant is a decision that does not take into account the existing problems and issues that the Caymanian people face today in the workplace.
     
    The immigration changes being proposed appear one-sided (towards the financial services community) and do not take into consideration the current (& future) qualified, experienced and hard working people of this country.
  15. Anonymous says:

    Thank you Ezzard!!

  16. Anonymous says:

    This individual is very devisive and you only need to listen to him for an hour or so on the Independence Tuesday version of Cayman Crosstalk to hear his independence world view. The UK is bad independence is good and coming, apparently he has been saying these things for years.

    I must give his self marketing program credit as a single member probably elected with 250 votes he gets a lot of press.

    • Mrs. Ebanks says:

      Ezzard, thank you for standing up for the Caymanian people! The 5 year work permits will NOT benefit the Caymanian people in the long run.

      If we accept 5 year work permits it will become more difficult for Caymanian’s (qualified & experienced) to advance in the workplace. In the long run this will increase our social problems and will be detrimental to the future generation of this country.
       
      Cayman’s work permit policies should be designed to enable Caymanian’s to realise their full employment potential. Implementing 5 year work permits in a time when over 1,000 Caymanian’s are unemployed and when so many are being made redundant is a decision that does not take into account the existing problems and issues that the Caymanian people face today in the workplace.
       
      The immigration changes being proposed appear one-sided (towards the financial services community) and do not take into consideration the current (& future) qualified, experienced and hard working people of this country.
      • Some means 3? says:

        Caymans educational system policies should be designed to enable Caymanian’s to realise their full employment potential.  Not private businesses. 

        What is Ezzard doing in this regard?  Keeping needed skill off island and getting rid of what you have will still not create skill where it is needed.  It just gets rid of it!  Forcing a business to hire who you want without takeing any responsibilily for its ability to succeed is a recipe for disaster.

        Of courseif your just thinking of yourself and your own future and don’t really care about the rest of us Then what you are saying makes perfect sense.

    • Backstroke says:

      Here we go again, the same old rhetoric, elected with only 250 votes, YOU  keep returning to the same old crap over and over, yes he got the 250 votes in North Side and we in this district are happy,  if YOU  are a North Sider get over the election and the anger that you are harboring, YOU have to agree that things are different now, you never had the MLA’s office open to you, never had access to your MLA like you do now, just a chosen few did, so I say to YOU, agree or disagree you know that Mr. Miller is doing a good job for all of us, "Caymanians" alike. I do not agree with all that he says or do, but I have the confidence that he will do whats best for us, remember he have  to bring it to the people of North Side and get our views before he can go to parliment and vote, if he has any sense at all he will listen to us, 4 years come around fast. Oh by the way at the next election it will be more than 250 votes if that will make YOU happy.

  17. Industry Competition says:

    Why fear keeping talent here?  If you’re fully qualified for the top jobs, why not compete head-to-head?  Why not start your own firms of accountants/lawyers/whatever right now?  Why run off the existing contributing talent?  That just dumbs down the jurisdiction (if you are indeed equal, then we’d have 2 experts instead of just one to draw in the business and the economic benefits to Cayman that goes with all that).

    Truth is, you push the existing 7-year experienced talent out and you can’t replace them with a new person.  It just doesn’t work like that.

    Forward or backward.  At least we know where Ezzard wants to take Cayman:  he wants to take the FS industry off life-support… just pull the plug and bury it.  It is of course Cayman’s choice, but if you think we’ll be better off financially without the FS industry …

    • Anonymous says:

      Name an accountant or lawyer with special skills who applied for key employee and has nevertheless has been rolled over. Just one.

      • Anonymous says:

        Don’t look to me for the proof of the problem, look directly to Ezzard:

        "Miller told CNS that while he was all for rolling out the red carpet to business and reducing work permit bureaucracy, key employee status should only be given in the rarest of circumstances."

        So Ezzard wants to give all but the most exceptional 7-year candidates the boot.  That’s what we’re talking about. 

        It’s Mac’s welcome (for the long term) to the businesses that feed our economy, versus Ezzard’s "take your 7 years experience, your contacts and the business that you generated, and get the XXXX off the Island."

        It’s a matter of deciding how the rollover applies in the future, not about the disaster of the past that brought us to near extinction.

        Think: does Ezzard even know the difference between a swap and a futures contract?  He wants to weigh in on how this business needs to be run???

        • Anonymous says:

          Do you think McKeeva knows the diference between a swap and a futures contract?

          • Anonymous says:

            I am dead certain that his advisors have intimate knowledge of that entire industry, from the tech to the math to the business end of it: the whole enchilada.

            No doubt whatsoever.

      • Anonymous says:

        I could name more than one – but that would bepersonal. What about two specific instances of something much bigger – entire companies being affected because of the immigration status of certain key individuals.

        Instance 1 – MD of a private bank get’s rolled-over after 7 years. Bank employed circa 10 people and all but the MD and one other staff member were Caymanian. MD was a high profile charity worker and his appeal was quashed. The Bank has now downsized to 1 person (yes one) and is shortly closing altogether pending CIMA approvals.

        Instance 2 – Law firm takes the majority of its IT department which is 55 strong to the UK. Whatever the public statements we all know that this was done because two of the three Senior Management team were told they would not get another work permit. This has resulted in a loss of jobs to Caymanians and some ex-pats. There are some who were kindly offered re-location to Leeds with reduced financial packages but at least 20 were being made redundant.

        To conclude, lets pull together for the benefit of all in Cayman. Success breeds success and some unemployment is inevitable as some parts of society are un-employable. That issue can never be fixed – by ex-pat bashing or protectionism.

         

         

        • Anonymous says:

          There is a material fact missing from your example #1, which is frankly not credible. Someone missed a deadline at the very least. 

          Just suppose, in relation to your example #2, at least 3 very likely qualified Caymanians had applied for the job and the employer was not all that full and frank in its efforts to determine their suitability (like even agreeing to interview them). Would the denial of permits be a result of "unfair application of the term limits/key employee policy" or a proportionate response to a failure to make genuine efforts to recruit suitably qualified Caymanians.

          • Anonymous says:

            Thoughts on your example comments:

            For #1: I don’t know what the "material fact" is, but if the problem that led to the loss of a significant local employer was simply that the paperwork was screwed up, then shame on the whole Cayman Islands bureaucracy for letting both the business and the jobs for the locals die from red tape poisoning.  You would have to literally not know what was good for Caymanians to ignore the loss coming your way and not intervening to fix it.

            For #2: While being honest in the process is critical (and SHAME on that firm for what they did – and yes, we all do know), this is simply a case of the firm retaliating against the Cayman Islands because they didn’t get their way.  In the real world, however, the jobs are still gone and x number of Caymanians are freshly unemployed and unlikely to find alternate work in this environment.  The firm declared war, and war causes casualties, but this war cannot be won through fighting battles – everyone loses.  A compromise would have been in order on the front end of this problem, but the Board probably never thought to try to cut a deal. 

            • Anonymous says:

              The other proper way to deal with example #2 is for a report to be filed with the police/chief justice – oh sorry – the law only applies to little guys (I forgot for a moment).

  18. What if says:

    11/2009 – 14:49.

    This might be a stupid question but here goes nothing….Why does Cayman have to give "status" to someone after 8 years or kick them out.  Why can’t they at least chose to have "residency" as long as they are working on a permit and chose not to be "given" "status"?Am I wrong to think that residency means you can live and work here, Status means you can stay regardless if your working and you can vote and work for the Government, not have to get a work permit, etc.etc. Am I wrong to think that many expats that work on Cayman are here to work and once they are done with that job will want to move on.  I know that some will want to stay and live but not all.

      So why can’t there be a contract that you could sign saying that you want to stay and work as long as your employer wants you and you want to work regardless of the time factor. Wouldn’t that solve a lot of your problems?  You could also stipulate that if during that time a suitable Caymanian was found for that job then they would have to find another job or leave. That way you would not be forceing businesses to kick out good employees when they have no one to replace them on island.

    Good professional workers are hard to find and harder to replace all over the world. If Cayman had this over other competitors wouldn’t this help Cayman?  Just a thought.

    • Anonymous says:

      Not a stupid question at all, you have hit the nail on the head. The answer lies in the European Convention on Nationality, which mandates that expats residing in a country for around 7 to 8 years should be afforded nationality. Of course with nationality comes all sorts of civil and political rights including the right to vote. This is what Cayman politicians cannot and will not accept – the threat that new Caymanians will put a stop to the corrupt status quo. Hence politicians of all parties have whipped up a xenophobic sentiment about threats to Caymanian jobs and discrimination against Caymanians in the workplace, all of which is completely untrue (as the both the evidence and common sense overwhelmingly demonstrates).

      In short, these thieves are taking us for fools, with their racist and xenophobic rhetoric supporting the current system of apartheid, to allow them to feather their political and material nests  just that bit longer.

      • Anonymous says:

        What a jaundiced view of Caymanians you paint. According to you Caymanians are just a bunch of corrupt, racist, xenophobic  irrational idiots with no legitimate grievance.

        "This is what Cayman politicians cannot and will not accept – the threat that new Caymanians will put a stop to the corrupt status quo".

        Clearly, a certain set of Cayman politicians did just the opposite – granted Caymanian status to 3000 persons to create new ‘Caymanian’ voters so as to maintain themselves in power. The idea that somehow if expats can vote it will put an end to corruption is absurd.

        "…threats to Caymanian jobs and discrimination against Caymanians in the workplace, all of which is completely untrue (as the both the evidence and common sense overwhelmingly demonstrates)".

        What evidence?! Clearly, you cannot speak for every employer and employment situation vis-a-vis Caymanians, so how can you declare this to be "completely untrue"?. I am afraid that this does not exhibit the commonsense that you claim for yourself. Because of the positions I have held I have direct knowledge and clear evidence that there is such discrimination by certain employers.

        Aside from the fallacious content, the tone of your post is highly inflammatory. Words like "apartheid" are completely inappropriate in this context. "Thieves"? What exactly has been stolen from you? The funny thing is that it is Caymanians who are accused of having an "entitlement’ mindset. Your approach can only serve to exacerbate an already tense situation. Stop trying to demonize Caymanians and try to understand that we have legitimate grievances which must be addressed. 

         

        • Anonymous says:

          Thank you Wed, 11/11/2009 – 21:16. You spoke well for both of us!

        • Anonymous says:

          "According to you Caymanians are just a bunch of corrupt, racist, xenophobic  irrational idiots" 

          It’s funny – I have been reading comments on this site for a while and it seems a lot of people have this opinion about the person who runs this country……

    • Anonymous says:

      Go and read your Immigration Law Wed, 11/11/2009 – 16:34 and you might understand why your suggestions are absolute nonsense. 

      AND, yes you are wrong:  "Am I wrong to think that many expats that work on Cayman are here to work and once they are done with that job will want to move on."  Perhaps you should get the statistics and find out how few there are existing in reality as opposed to the fairy tale idea of yours dear.

  19. Dred says:

    Now I don’t want any of you UDP people crying foul now. This is your brainchild. The guy you wanted to lead the country.

    We PPM and Neutrals are the only ones allowed to cry because we didn’t want this maniac at the helm.

    Don’t get me wrong PPM is not perfect, far from it but their issue TO ME is naivity not sheer stupidity. This is a whole different bus ride we signed on to.

    I think we really need to start thinking about the People’s Referrendum soon.

  20. Anonymous says:

    miller should confine his backward thoughts to the barstools in northside….. what are his suggestions for investment or development or maybe he wants to go back to the good ole fishing and rope making days…..

    look at the standard of the politicians, look at the civil service… if you want to see top quality caymanians at work……

    why would any country want to kick out settled, qualified, educated workers who have lived happily in a country for 7 years AND it has been proven every year for the past 7 years that there is NO caymanian qualified/willing to that job….

    • Anonymous says:

      Oh Edna, Edna, why did you have to retire? You seem to have been the only one who could keep this narrow minded furrina-hating bigot in his place outside of Government. In the country of the blind the one eyed man is king and there appear to be a lot of blind people writing to CNS in favour of this desparately backward looking man. I’ll bet you not one of them is a successful Caymanian businessman, lawyer, accountant , HR specialist, teacher etc.They’re all too busy doing well in a forward looking Cayman that this man wishes to turn our backs on.

      After all, he wasn’t himself successful in any of these areas was he? Another Caymanian who makes it big ONLY in the world of caymanian politics.

      God help us.

    • Anonymous says:

      You seem to be confusing Ezzard Miller with someone else when you say  "miller should confine his backward thoughts to the barstools in northside".  Unlike many of the others that Miller does not hand out on the barstools in North Side or anywhere else for that matter, hence the reason he can think rationally and understand that he has to take a stand for his Caymanian people.  Thank you for doing so Ezzard!

  21. Anonymous says:

    ahhh, the Caymanians and their "entitlement" issues again…

    • Anonymous says:

      We feel no more entitled than any citizen of any country. Take a look at the employment and immigration practices in any country of the world. That country’s citizens get first preference at any job. There are work visas and immigration controls in every country. We are no different. And I for one have WORKED HARD to get my degree and my career experience to ensure I am qualified for any job I apply for. So please – your generalisationsare disingenuous and insulting to all Caymanians – and you should have more respect for the people who are hosting you as a guest in our country. I would not go to another country and expect to get preferential treatment and an unconditional welcome. So why should we give it?

      • Anonymous says:

        I agree with you. Most of these people who are griping about not getting the royal treatment and red carpet in the Cayman Islands are the ones who can’t compete in job market in their own home country, and having lived the good life here seems to have gone to their heads.

        How many more people does one think this country can absorb?

      • Robochicken says:

        I always found people who had to work hard to get a degree just not that talented or interesting.  I picked up a couple of degrees while work a few hours a week and partying the rest of the time.  Degrees are easy.

        • Anonymous says:

          All depends on where you got them from. If you get them from any of the top 50 universities in the world you work for them.

          • Robochicken says:

            This little Robochicken went to one of the world’s top 10 and did about 4 hours work a week.

      • Anonymous says:

        Caymanians don’t want to accept the facts…

        Fact: In the United States, non-citizens who leaglly reside in the the country can, and often are, hired ahead of citizens, based strictly on their qualifications and ability to successfully do the job. You need to learn more about international immigration standards.

        Fact: Many people who come to the Cayman Islands have, in most cases, been very successful in thier careers in their home countries. They come to Cayman to earn more money for less work as the workplace is less competitive.

        Fact: The vast majority of Caymanians with "qualifications" had to enjoy the "good life" in either the UK, Canada, or the USA for some perios of time in order to "earn" those "qualifications" because they could not get a good education without leaving the island.

        So, if a small % of UK, Canadian and American citizens come here to enjoy the "good life" you need to GET OVER IT. You owe it to them…after all!

        • da wa ya get says:

          What???? You do realise (depending on what % you are using) a small percentage of those countries populations is easily quadruple that of Cayman’s total population…

          • Anonymous says:

            Ugh, dugh?!@@#@!!&*!!

             

            You mean like a small % of China’s population going into, I don’t know, let’s say…Canada? Of course the BILLIONS of people that make up that population makes the thought daunting to smaller nations, but THEY AREN’T ALL COMING and THEY WON’T ALL STAY. And even if they do, so what?

            Accept the facts, it’s not your world, "the good life" doesn’t only belong to you…time to get over it!

            • da wa ya get says:

              "And even if they do, so what"???

              This may not be my world…but this IS my Cayman!

              I don’t believe the "good life" only belongs to me…I’m glad that people are able to better themselves by coming to Cayman for better wages…but NOT at the expense of my Caymanian people!

              It’s people like you who cause Caymanians to be wary of and sometimes despise expats. I personally don’t do the generalizing thing and take people for who they are…but it sure seems that since Caymanians decided they didn’t want to be maligned in the OWN islands anymore more and more hateful expats coming out of the wood works. It is such people Caymanians want gone from our shores. Those kinds of people are sharks!

              You can’t keep packing sharks into a tank of dolphins and don’t expect the dolphins to get eaten/abused. Well guess what??? Cayman has been saying for sometime that we are tired of the sharks and refuse to be eaten in our own tank! There is a finite amount of space in a tank, just as there is a finite on an island.

              Unna keep on with unna foolishness ya hear! Dolphins protect their own! Ever seen a shark attacked by dolphins?

        • Anonymous says:

          Here we go again! Fact – foreigners living in U.S. are hired before citizens due to more experience – I am paraphrasing here.

          Wrong! All you have to do is Google this information for the true facts. U.S. citizens are lining up for jobs, sometimes well over 600 citizens will apply for a, that’s right ‘A’ job after our immigration department conducts raids on some of the businesses here.

          I won’t, nor do I want to name the businesses. Just Google different food companies….

        • Anonymous says:

          YOU don’t want to deal with the facts.

          Most expats here were not top tier in their home countries and have indeed come to Cayman where it is less competitive to earn more money. Having arrived and made some money they start to imagine that it was all due to their superior abilities.

          I attaended university in the UK. I am  afraid I did not experience the "good life" to which you refer. It was a cold, dark, gloomy place. What kept me going was the goal of my qualifications and returning back to Cayman.  Nonetheless, I did not go around insulting my hosts and acting superior. I respected that fact that I was a guest in someone else’s country.  

          We do not OWE anything to anyone who has chosen to come here. They have not come here on Peace Corp mission, but were motivated purely by self-interest. They are already handsomely rewarded. We don’t object to them from having the good life, what we object to is seeking to deny Caymanians to have the same in our own country and then to justify it with this rubbish. 

          In the U.S., U.S. Citizens are given preference unless the worker brings a special skill which the U.S. citizen does not provide.  This is similar to the previous ‘key employee’ concept here which has now been demolished by Mr. Bush. Getting a work visa there is much more complicated than a work permit here.

          Get over yourself!  

            

          • Anonymous says:

            Poor you. PLEASE read and learn about the I-9 forms and associated regulations for non-citizens of the US. You will find that you are very wrong in your comment above. Like I said before…Caymanians don’t want to accept the facts.

             

            As for your UK "good life", that’s why people use quotes, because it’s a joke, it’s relative, it’s and illusion! I could EASILY argue that your UK experience was the "good life" for you…but, what would be the point? Caymanians don’t want to accept the facts.

            Again, get over it, it happens all over the world…immigrants come in and change nations…there’s nothing unique about Cayman…quite the contrary.

            • Anonymous says:

              In the U.S., obtaining an employment-based immigrant visa requires permanent labor certification, which involves an employer’s placing advertisements or demonstrating evidence of recruiting attempts; the petitioning employer must also demonstrate to the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor (DOL) that no qualified U.S. candidates have applied.

          • Anonymous says:

            Well said!

          • Anonymous says:

            I wish I could validate your claim, bit, I can’t. I live in the U.S., FWIW, that’s simply not true. U.S. citizens are not given preference. It’s all about profits, dollars and cents over dollars and sense. The big corporations, as well as small businesses are hiring based on their bottom-line. They don’t want to provide medical, pension benefits to U.S. workers, so, they hire foreign workers, legal and illegal, thereby depressing wages.

            In addition, U.S. workers have to go through leaps, bounds, and hoops to get a job. This includes a backgound check (theft, drug charges, or any type arrest), drug test, and some times credit check, medical screening. With this is mind, most Americans fail either one. This is not always done with foreign workers – example, a well-known case about an employer using a stolen social security number for at least 99 of his employees at the same time.

            With U.S. workers, they can bring suit easily. Foreign workers legal/illegal have their jobs and status on the line. If legal (visa), the employer can easily report the visa is canceled. If illegal, sometimes the employer will call the immigration. IMO opinion, some employers are out-of-line the way they treat foreign workers. To put it nicely, these employers are demanding, controling, and bossy (as some siblings or spouses would say).Just remember this saying, "fear is a motivator."

        • Anonymous1 says:

          "Fact: In the United States, non-citizens who leaglly reside in the the country can, and often are, hired ahead of citizens, based strictly on their qualifications and ability to successfully do the job. You need to learn more about international immigration standards"

          Bzzzzz  Wrong !

          My father went to the States as a Caymanian and he went in war time.  Even though they needed people desparately, Americans were hired first.

    • Anonymous says:

      ahhh, the Expats (with some exceptions) and their "arrogance" "superiority" issues again…..

  22. Anonymous says:

    Again – hats off to Mr Miller. There are ways to encourage inward investment without selling out – and giving away our birth right. Mr Bush is caving in to the big money interests that backed his campaign and his party. He has to realise some things should never be for sale. If key employee status is given out indiscriminately, Caymanians will forever hit the glass ceiling and will never reach the top in their chosen professions. There are some of us who are qualified, educated and experienced. Thanks for sticking up for us Mr Miller. No one else seems willing to. I hope I can move to North Side so I can vote for you next time!

  23. Anon says:

    Mr. Miller you just won me over with your words of WISDOM! I fully support your decision here. Thank God for you and that you are not just following Mr. Bush around looking like a hungry puppy looking for scraps that he throws from his table. Please don’t change your mind on this important issue. Please stick to what you have said here, because you will have alot of people on the outside looking in that will support you on this and where as we are not in a position to do anything about it, you are, so we will be looking to you to help save the Cayman Islands for the Caymanians! God bless you sir.

  24. Anonymous says:

    I am a Caymanian and I back Mr. Ezzard Miller 100 percent on both his assessment of this new proposal by the newly appointed premier and the stance that he has taken against it. It seems to me that this administration must either be confused regarding their remit or, as some have suggested, representing the foreign community in this country. It is good to know however that Mr. Miller is swiftly taking on this issue and I would encourage him not let it rest. Based on all that I have heard and read from this lot of politicians Ezzard Miller has emerged not only as the representative for the district of North Side but as the true representative of ALL Caymanians. Thank you Mr.Ezzard and may God continue to bless you and give yo wisdom to lead us!

  25. Iron Wood says:

    Ezzard will kick off the 3nd party system or replace the PPM’s party. He is the brain bhind the "TRUE" party system. That is why NS placed him back….Thus the saying, "If you wnat someone with backbone, better put Ezzard Miller back"! It will be called CDP (Cayman Democratic Party)

    • Anon says:

      Sorry you won’t be able to use the name CDP as it’s the shorten version of the name of a local law firm. But I support Mr. Miller’s cause here no matter what he names his party.

      • Anonymous says:

        Ezzard could call it the LCCGDPIHP ("Let’s Cut Cayman’s Gross Domestic Product In Half Party").

         

         

  26. Tired of this bull says:

    I am really tired of this mess.  Can you imagine how this will effect us in the work place.  The only thing that stands between them treating us like "idiots" is the fact that they have to apply for work permits and just maybe there is a letter on their files at immigration.  Some of  constantly have to watch our backs because while we are slaving away the "managers & Ceo" and busy in the boardroom ploting our demise.  Can we get a group together to march on the glass house and the Premier on this?  Yes, Ezzard could well the the Premier, he is educated, arrogant yes, but educated.  He has good common sense and knows private sector and their sinister was like the back of his hand. XXXX Come on Mark, Rolston and whoever else in the LA who can see further than the length of his nose, and stop this madness.  Please let the present Premier go down in history as having the shortest appointment ever. 

  27. Anonymous says:

    oh dear oh dear.

    lets let all the businesses leave and lets not bother inticing any others to locate here.

    then we can all sit down together, with no jobs and no income and be very pleased about how smart we have been….

  28. Anonymous says:

    This foolish man is risking many Caymanian jobs by his ignorant protectionism.  Ezzard may be one of the biggest threats to Cayman’s future prosperity.

    • Anonymous says:

      I quote Charles De Gaulle

      "A man of character finds a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realize his potentialities."  Ezzard Miller is that man. 

      Now let me tell you who you are:

      He who knows not and knows not that he knows not. He is a fool; shun him.

      Need I say more?

       

  29. Anonymous says:

    Ezzard should call for a vote of "no confidence" for the entire UDP Government. It wont be sucessful but he will have made a serious point.

  30. Anonymous says:

    People, wisen up and take back your country!

    Because Caymanians never stand up form themselves nobody is respecting them. Your own representatives don’t seem to give a "#)*$ about you! Why do you sit back and allow this to happen?

    • Bully's Star Prize says:

      "People, wisen up and take back your country!"  I hear ya!  The Brits should come back and take control to restore some sanity in their territory before the silliness goes too far.

  31. noname says:

    Does this mean that you and the people you represent will not be needing any of the money that will come in from these changes?  THAT would be tantamount in showing the rest of Cayman how they can get along just find without any help from any expat run businesses.  In fact since you are so smart why don’t you start up and run a successful financial busness right here in Cayman staffed by ONLY Caymanians.  That would certainly prove your point. You seem to think that you and your constituents are the only ones that know how to run Cayman successfully. Prove it!  Start your own Financial service run and staffed by only Caymanians from Cayman that YOU think would qualify as Key employees and make it work.   THEN feel free to talk like you know what it takes AND everyone might listen to you.  Otherwise keep talking and showing what you say and what you know are two exceptionally different things and don’t worry because there will still be some that think your the smartest.

    • Anonymous says:

      It amazes me that when someone rejects the idea of blindly opening the flood gates of immigration to the rest of the world, it is interpreted as saying that we should get rid of ALL expats.

      Just because Caymanians don’t hand everything over to people who feel are deserving, doesn’tmean that we do not understand that SOME expats are needed and indeed welcome. However, that doesn’t mean that we have to sell the country from underneath our ass!

      • Some means 3? says:

        "key employee status should only be given in the rarest of circumstances. " 

        If you were a business owner that had 20 or so workers and 5 of them were "key" to you.  In other words they had the knowledge and experiance of many years to get their job done would you feel comfortable that you could keep them and therefore keep your business working with the above statement?  The whole point is that businesses will want to know that they can EASILY do their jobs without HOPEING that they can find and keep the skill and experiance needed to keep their customers happy.  Remember THEY are betting their own financial future when they come here.

        Fact:  There are not enough qualified Caymanians to fill all of the needs of the Cayman financial sector.  If you are not going to let a business hire and keep the skill they need from off island Why do you think they will risk coming to Cayman and then have to let someone else tell them who to hire.

        Think…Large, successfull financial sector= continued prosperity(something you already don’t have)  Small unsure and fighting for life financial sector=3rd world country living.  How many Caymanians can Ezzard keep on his payroll?

      • Anonymous says:

        True.  UK opened the floodgates of Immigration, look at the mess and are now trying to close them again.

  32. Young.KY.female says:

    Finally, this is the Ezzard we know and love! Stand up!

  33. Anonymous says:

    What amazes me is that Elio Solomon barked all over the microphone when he was on the talk show about Caymanians being abused by expats on the job etc etc…I am sure I can dig out all the old recordings and upload them to Youtube for audio listening pleasure.

    He is now the new potential Jr. Minister runninng candidate and he has gone silent on the subject.  Mr. Solomon, didn’t you get elected by the people on these same issues you so blatantly ragged out the previous Govt. (PPM) for?  Didn’t you claim that they were importing foreigners and giving them jobs Caymanians needed promoting to.  I can assure you I have the transcripts of your shows and the audio as well and I will come after you on these points you made your platform.  Yeah, I knew you would go back on your word, or you would go silent once elected and sure enough my words have come to pass.

    I am embarrassed to say I gave you a vote, but my dearest Elio, you can be assured that I am not going to give you another and will campaign others to reject you in the future too because you are doing nothing, you are a bag of wind blowing in the wind, and depending on where you are standing you will get a whiff of you too.

    Go ahead make the laws and implement the changes, in less than 4years we will ammend them again and resend all that ur Govt. is doing to rape the Caymanian people of their birthrights.  I hope you have a plan for your children’s future becuase you are apart of a Govt. that has no plans for them.

    Go ahead Elio help your Govt. to roll out the red carpet for the foreigners to come into this country and take away the positions that professional Caymanians should have.

    Get behind me Satan and let God’s devine intervention come into this place.

    • Anonymous says:

      You seem to be the fountain of all knowledge so why don’t you let us know how to proceed here?

      Companies need to be able to employ the best people for the job, regardless of nationality. Unfortunately there is currently a massive lack of Caymanian professional staff, so the skills gap needs to be filled with expat labour. Without qualified and settled long term workers, the financial services companies will continue to vacate the island, taking the remaining jobs with them. This will mean a lot of expats leaving (good news for you then), except they are leaving to get jobs elsewhere at the same companies. It is your children that are going to suffer.

      If the companies are allowed to hire good staff, there is a chance they might stay which menas there’ll be plenty of opportunities for well presented, motivated, educated and qualified Caymanians, even more than there are now. If they go there’ll be no jobs for the young caymanians.

      Without the taxes paid by expats or on their behalf by their employers (sorry fees I meant), the schools will get worse (if thats even possible) and with no prospects upon leaving school the whole young caymanian generation has 2 choices. Making rope or living life a life of crime. Even the second option is less appealing for them as there is no wealth anywhere on the island so nobody worth stealing from. Soon the only thing worth stealing will be the ropes and bananas.

      So rather than bashing your bible and raping the children of their birthrights, why don’t you come up with better suggestions?

       

    • Anonymous says:

      Don’t you get it! He has a little position now and a nice car, so screw the rest. I am shocked that you actually believed it would be different. I hope you (and everyone else who voted for these people) remembers in 4 years time.

  34. Anonymous says:

    wow, 4 out of 4 comments so far say that the island should get rid of its financial services sector and rely on all the other major industries the island has!!
     

    The only reason Bush is proposing the changes is that if he does not, the financial services sector will die (it is already in ICU and needs serious help to get it healthy again). It is not a nice choice but it is a necessary evil. Don’t make the changes and you won’t have a financial services industry – this may suit the 4 of you fine, but please think about your children’s employment prospects.

    Don’t take the normal Caymanian road of negativity – if you don’t like it, propose another cure for the industry to get it out of intensive care.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Think about what you are writing. Are you seriously suggesting that the Financial Industry is suffering ONLY because of the immigration issues? I think you are suffering from ignorance. It has been stated over and over again that companies have left the Island because of issues with immigration. Can you name one? All the ones I know (including the place I work for) have moved some departments to reduce overheadcost. That’s it!

      • True says:

        "Are you seriously suggesting that the Financial Industry is suffering ONLY because of the immigration issues?"

        No he is not, where on earth did you get that from? maybe you should think before writing, LOL

        Firms have left for many reasons including immigration difficulties. What you don’t seem to realise is that immigration difficulties increase the overhead costs of departments in Cayman. (Staff turnover, retraining, recruitment fees, work permit fees, etc). So immigration is one of the key reasons most companies are moving. In a global recession nearly all companies become more cost sensitive.

        A few examples:

        Goldman Sacs(funds admin), Maples Finance (funds admin), Maples and Calder (IT dept).

        Denying it won’t make it go away.

        If you think that Cayman can survive without the financial services industry, then you have to beleive that Tourism can employ the 10-15k working Caymanians, who have at the moment very little experience in the industry due their preference for FS jobs. The gov will have to cut a vast chunk of the civil service as it’s own revenues will be decimated.

        The choice of diluting B & B Caymanian control or retaining the prosperity of Cayman is a balancing act on a very thin rope

         

        • Anonymous says:

          It frustrates the hell out of me when someone writes about immigration issues and it is interpreted us being said that Cayman does not need a Financial Industry. Come on, give people some benefit that they have a brain, just because they don’t agree with someone else doesn’t mean they don’t have one.

          Yes, qualified and well experienced people are needed, and yes, there are not enough Caymanians who can fill all senior management positions. That is what we are talking about right? Senior management and Key-employees? How many of them do you know who have been denied a work permit or been rolled over? I have yet to find one. Most of the firms I am familiar with have not had any difficulties to recruit the people they need. I have worked in the Financial Industry for over 10 years and I have yet to come across someone with respective qualifications in a senior management position who has been rolled over just because.

  35. dumbest says:

    Ezzard,  Everyone should just do as you say and not think for themselves.  You  know better than any proffesional what they need to run a business.

    You know better than anyone what The Whole of Cayman island should do to get back out of dept and save the civil service from cuts. You know that if we get rid of all expats than we will have plenty of jobs for all Caymanians.

    Goverment should just ask you whenever they have a question because only you have knowledge and no one else is qualified.

    You know that no one could possibly be important enough to any business to get key status in fact I know you know that businesses should just send their money here and not any "workers" because you know that Cayman don’t need no help from anyone.

    You know that you would be a better Premier because you know EVERYTHING!  I recomend that you run for King of Cayman.  Because there are at least 10 people that would do anything you say because you are that good.

    • Anonymous says:

      Where does it state that we should get rid of ALL expats?

      Stick with the facts and don’t blow something out of proportion. It makes you look quite silly!

  36. big whopper says:

    Mr. Ezzard we the people are greatfull for you!

  37. Anonymous says:

    How many more companies have to leave before some of these guys "get it"?

    In the wake of Goldman, Citigroup and Maples Finance announcing that they are shipping hundreds of jobs to other jurisdictions, some people are still living in denial that companies have to set up in Cayman.

    Mr. Bush is working as hard as he can to at least stem the bleeding.  He has been told informally by other large employers like Butterfield, Fortis and Citco that the job exodus will continue if nothing is done to change the existing process.

    The financial service industry groups in Halifax are down here in Cayman once every three months talking to the heads of these firms and desperately trying to convince them to move more jobs to Canada.  They offer incentives, tax credits, free training, and basically anything else that businesses need to justify a move from Cayman.

    They have been remarkably successful in creating thousands of jobs in Canada (10 years ago – there were virtually no fund admin jobs in Canada).  The story in Ireland is similar – although the focus is more on the European market.

    These types of announcements undermine Mac’s his efforts to save the fund admin industry here in Cayman – let alone attract new businesses to set up here.

  38. Anon says:

    Only an utter short sighted idiot would not want to do everything possible to bring as many professionals to Cayman and encourge them to stay. These guys are the key engines which drive the business which in turn bring hundreds, if not thousands of trickle down jobs to Caymanians.

    • Anonymous says:

      Are you aware that the island has for the past 30 years had more than enough of these so called professionals coming, staying and / or leaving? At what point will the jobs begin to trickle down? According to the history of this situation that trickle down process should start just about next never.

       

  39. Anonymous says:

    Thank you Ezzard. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I have seen to many lies and Caymanians have their lives turned downside up to sit back and watch Mac sweep it under the carpet. Please continue to seek to avoid the otherwise inevitable unrest. Balance is needed,  including red carpets in appropriate industry sectors, but not this wholesale way.

  40. Light still over the horizon for Cayman says:

    Good to know someone in the LA still has the "cohunes" to facedown this XXXX.

    We are in for a rough ride, just be ready and mark Mr. Miller’s words down, this will be further ruination of the Cayman Islands AGAIN if we just stand a side and let this government disenfranchise Caymanians like it did in 2003. 

    Remember first it was 500 then 1000 then 2000 and last I heard it was over 3000 Caymanian statuses GIVEN away.  CAYMANIANS PLEASE TAKE YOUR COUNTRY BACK before it’s too late.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Kudos to Mr. Miller. I will be relocating to North Side to vote for this man. He is the only one who has the caymanians interest at heart.

      I have been a very loyal supporter of the UDP until now!!! Mac you need to think for a change Think of love for the country and not the expats. We need foreign investments etc and can get it the right way. Don’t sell our country and the future of our people out for a few dollars.

      Remember thoses statuses that got u un-elected? well the key employee statuses will be the ruination of your party!!!!

      Caymanians let take a stand and take back our country before its too late.!!!!

    • Raymond Ebanks says:

      ….before it’s too late? Seriously?  You make it sound like it’s a bad thing. I’m a caymanian and wouldn’t be as well off as I am without expats! Be honest, sometimes they do bring more to the table! Hopefully you wrote that post behind a desk at work and not at home….

       

       

       

    • Anonymous says:

      It started at approx 3,000 but with the basketload of children/spouses/grandparents and anyone else the new Caymanians could adopt it turned into approx 45,000

  41. Anonymous says:

    It appears that Mr. Miller has learned a great deal from his tenure as Chairman of the Immigration Board in particular. He is of course completely right in his assessment of this policy. The Premier does not appear to understand that this sort of issue can lead to social unrestwhich will itself  be unhealthy not only for the financial industry but also for tourism and our way of life generally.    

  42. Anonymous says:

    EZZARD you should be leader of government business you are the only one in government that are protecting caymanians.HATS OFF TO YOU.UDP GOVERNMENT are for EXPATS thats why the EXPATS love mckeeva he gave away our birth rights to them.

    • Anonymous says:

      Think you sold your birthrights mate. Thats why we all live on seven mile beach and you don’t. Because your greed made you sell out your families heritage for a few dollars.

      • Anonymous says:

        Talk for yourself.  Not ‘all’ live on Seven Mile Beach nor wish to.

    • T says:

      "the EXPATS love mckeeva he gave away our birth rights to them."

      then they would no longer be expats?

      I am an expat and I agree with Mr Ezzard, allowing more top professionals to get status, while may seem rosey on paper, will block (B&B) Caymanian’s climbing the career ladder. And the fact that will be afar better off then the average Caymanian will make land more expensive and the general cost of living more expensive.

      And lets not forget social unrest when they can vote and B &B Caymanians will have even less control

      It may help bring business here, but is the price to high for Caymanians?

      • Anonymous says:

        If you’re an expat, you’re a humungously limited one to judge from the literary content of your post. I suspect you’re a local Ezzard fan; come on, own up! Real furrinas don’t write so badly as you.

        • Anonymous says:

          Actually, attacking the messenger, disproving his arguement is a sure sign of retardation.

          Maybe you should get back to playing with yourself

        • Anonymous says:

          I see. Expat = intelligent, educated; Caymanian = semi-literate and stupid.

          You prove the point of the prejudice we have to contend with on a daily basis at the hands of some expats. Obviously, as is the case with Caymanians, there are expats at all levels of education. They are not all professionals and managers. Some do not have a high school education

          P.S. Before chiding others for the "literary content" of their posts please learn to (a) spell "humongous", and (b) use it appropriately. How can someone be "humongously (extremely large) limited"?

           

          • Anonymous says:

            It’s gratifying to see the talent for grammatical correction in evidence. As a colloquial (slang) word, "humongously" could probably be spelled eitherway. And as for the last sentence "How can someone be humongously (extremely large) limited?", the answer of course is "humongously" is an adverb not an adjective so the phrase would be "extremely largely limited". Nothing wrong with that at all.

            Now I’m off to get a life.

            • Anonymous says:

              "Humongous" is an adjective. There is no such word as "humongously".

    • Anonymous says:

      Not all Expats.  Some have been here legitimately for many years and do nothave status.  Does the law not say 15 years before applying for status? 

      • Anonymous says:

        You have a right to apply, and to be fairly considered but not to get.

        • Anonymous says:

          This is exactly the point.  Apply, be considered fairly and either be granted status or not.  This has not happened previously with the free status grants and now it appears free residency to be given to people who again have probably never even step foot on these Islands.  There does not appear to be any ‘loyalty’ to Caymanians or to those ‘Expats’ who are and have been involved in this society for many years. 

      • Timmy says:

        The current law is now in breach of the constituition for imposing too many fetters on status.  A period of time and no criminal convictions is all that an appellate court will require.  All the other hurdles will be ruled unconstitutional.

        • Anonymous says:

          Explain exactly which provision of the Consitution the Immigration Law breaches. If you think it is that easy you are dreaming.

  43. Animosity says:

    We need a third Party to bring in some new blood and fresh ideas if we are going to survive.

    Ezzard! It is your chance to wear the Premiers hat now and I recommend you take the oppertunity to get some new blood and fresh ideas together and start a new Party that will give the Caymanian people an alternative to the bunch of redundant politicians we presently have to live with.

    There are people on this island that will back you to the hilt. "SO GO FOR IT EZZARD".