REMARKS BY
THE HON FRED MITCHELL
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND
THE PUBLIC SERVICE
 October 30, 2003

At the International Labour Organization Conference on FTAA, WTO and CSME
Hosted by the Bahamas Trade Union Congress

 “THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE  
MULTILATERAL TRADE SYSTEM”

            I wish to thank my friend Obie Ferguson for the kind invitation to speak to you this afternoon.  Mr. Ferguson and Reginald Lobosky have been part of a small civil society interactive group that meets on a monthly basis at the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs.  The group arose out of a request by the CARICOM Secretariat for engagement with civil society in The Bahamas on a regular basis as we develop the public policy on larger trade, economic and political relations.  I think that it has been amongst the most important initiatives of the Ministry and I would encourage others to join in the monthly discussions.

          One of the most engaging efforts made at those civil society meetings was a discussion on the tax implications for The Bahamas as a result of the new trade arrangements that are being proposed for the country.  John Rolle, who is an economist at the Central Bank, told us that in a sense it did not matter what the decisions on trade would be as far as taxation issues are concerned.  He said that the tax system of The Bahamas is inadequate to pay for the demands of goods and services of the Bahamian people.  The fact is that come what may, The Bahamas has to come to grips with a new tax system.

          You now see that the Minister of State for Finance James Smith within the last week has taken the discussion front and centre by suggesting that Value Added Tax (VAT) is an alternative to the taxation system that we now have, and why that might be a useful tax to have in The Bahamas.  It appears that change in our system is now a central point of discussion.

          I have said in the development of my own thinking on this point that one of the usefulness of the dialogue with civil society is that it is one way to develop public policy without the commitment of a Government Minister to particular policy.  In other words, it permits a Government Minister or other public official to engage in publicly thinking out a policy as it develops and before it becomes policy.

          Last year the International Monetary Fund had its annual mission visit The Bahamas.  One of the points that it raised was that there needed to be a public discussion in The Bahamas on the question of taxation in The Bahamas.  The Bahamians that they talked to, both those that were being taxed and those who collected the tax did not see a connection between the payment of taxes and the services and goods provided by the Government.  The result is that there was no climate of enforcement to pay taxes, and many felt that there was no moral or legal imperative to pay taxes.  They asked for a public education campaign on the question of the payment of taxes in The Bahamas.

           Civil Society can play a significant role in this for The Bahamas, and should be invited to begin the idea of public interchange on this issue.

          What this limited discussion on the role that civil society has played in The Bahamas leads to is the larger role of civil society as the world trading system develops.  As a maker of public policy in The Bahamas, I have enormous sympathy with the movement world wide of indigenous people, of trade unions, of civic groups,  of businessmen, of church groups and leaders to seek to influence the way policy develops on a range of issues including international trade. 

          They are very much the conscience of those who actually develop the policy, and I think it is a mistake to try to vilify these groups or to seek to stop them from participating in the process, through street theatre, demonstrations or other forms of civil disobedience and dissent. 

          From my perspective it is important to always hear the other side.  It is important to know what the other side believes will be the impact of policies on them and on the wider world.  This is particularly so with regard to the environment, with regard to agriculture, and to the effects that policies will have on the poor and dispossessed.  It is possible to be so involved in the highlife of public policy that one forgets who you are actually here to serve.

          Further, it is clear that often businesses and governments act without a conscience, and it is imperative from my perspective to always be guided by some form of moral or ethical imperative.  Not that we will always get it right but that by inputs from both the formal and informal sectors, there will be successful public policy.

          Those who are involved in civil society activism today are tomorrow’s political leaders.  I have, myself, come from an activist background, and I think that activism is essential to the development of public policy.  I think that the world benefits by the discussion that has been forced on it by the civil society groups that have arrayed themselves around the world.

          I have no doubt that the recent Declaration on National Security in the hemisphere was driven by the need to reflect the new priorities set by the civil society who forced the redefinition of  security away from the traditional guns and bullets security to the  wider issues on health care, housing, education, poverty and the environment.  This must be continued and political leaders must be forced to go beyond mere declarations to the concrete and definite goals that people will see will lead to concrete improvements in their lives.

           I therefore welcome the continued participation of civil society as a valued and valuable component of the development of public policy, and pledge my best endeavours to ensure that the process continues.

          Thank you very much indeed.