News Release: HAMILTON, Bermuda – Vic Ball, a former One Bermuda Alliance Senator and successful entrepreneur, has been selected as the OBA candidate for Smith’s West.




Vic Ball’s Full Statement:
I would like to think of today as exactly that, a good day. Let me begin by thanking my immediate predecessor. Trevor Moniz has served Smith’s Parish including constituency 9 for twenty-seven [27] years and for that we are all grateful.
I would also like to express gratitude to him for making this an easy transition. I must also thank the leader of the One Bermuda Alliance, Craig Cannonier, for the opportunity to run in this constituency.
I would especially like to acknowledge the people of Constituency 9 for the enthusiastic welcome I have received thus far. I look forward to earning your trust to represent you to the best of my ability in the constituency, the broader political arena as well as in the House of Assembly with your support.
I initiated this speech by saying it is a good day. Like many of you sitting on the sidelines of politics and observing what is going on it is abundantly clear that things are going wrong for our country.
Today, I step forward to do more than simply analyze, evaluate and criticize the Government from the sidelines.
In recent years, Bermuda has been undergoing drastic changes.
There are few, if any, among us would say these changes are for the better.
Almost every living adult can remember when our standard of living was higher, and we were more hopeful and optimistic about the future.
We remember when our major challenge was to preserve and distribute more evenly what we have rather than constantly losing what we had.
Of course, the PLP would love to blame COVID-19. But we all know that all COVID-19 has done is to catch us in a downward spiral making a bad situation much worse.
We had no plan to improve the situation before and presently we still do not have a plan.
Bermuda, we can feel that what we had is steadily slipping away. It is harder and harder to make ends meet, the education of our children is in crisis, it is increasingly difficult to sell our homes or even to buy one, and it is a significant challenge finding a job.
The Premier in one of his speeches long before the pandemic, said that we should forget about how things used to be, basically to stop complaining and suck it up, because there is no going back to the good old days.
Instead, what we are being promised is a harsh reality of an educational system that continues to fail our children blocking their only path to a better life. The debt burden is swelling, for which we and these same children will have to pay more and more taxes.
We are now a hopelessly divided country where instead of pulling together to solve problems, the PLP stoke emotions about race and class to divert our attention away from those problems. The net result is that the problems and challenges are getting worse with no end or solutions in sight.
It is most unfortunate that we do not debate issues on their merits anymore. We hurl personal insults at each other about who is siding with who in an ‘us against them’ rivalry that benefits no one except the PLP politicians fanning the flames.
Let us think about this, the OBA is supposed to be a white party, no matter how many black people created it, support it, are a part of it and what it offers to improve black lives. My black OBA colleagues and I are supposed to be puppets and surrogates no matter what we say and do.




On the other side, the PLP is pro-black irrespective of the steady ruin and decay of the quality of black lives under its rule over the past two decades.
We are constantly told that the OBA is the new UBP in spite of how many former UBP MPs and former leaders are now in the Cabinet and the heart and midst of the PLP, including the UBP’s last standing member.
Nobody can say otherwise because we are not listening to each other anymore. Politicians make fancy, emotional speeches then walk away and nothing is done until the next speech.
In the meantime, all of us feel the pessimism and hopelessness of our future. No matter how we slice it, our country is going down the drain.
There is now talk of rushing to the polls in a snap election. The fact is that a Party with an overwhelming majority in the House and barely three years into a five-year term; would only do this as their best chance of getting re-elected.
They cannot see a way out of our current predicament and challenges, so they want to rope voters in while they still can, to secure political opportunities for themselves and the PLP elite. If their strategy is successful, it is only downhill after that.
It is for these reasons, I have decided to no longer stand on the sidelines without contributing to change course from this downward direction.
I intend to add substance and thought to the debate, to put forward ideas that promise a brighter future and to commit to putting those ideas to action.
At the outset, we must change the tone of our politics. For the love of this country, we need to value good ideas and useful discourse again toward finding solutions that improve our lives.
In addition, I am stepping forward to deliver on the OBA’s promise of representing the interests of all Bermudians. Our country will never improve if we cannot get past the idea of a black government representing black interests only just as we were unable to get past the roadblock of a white government representing mainly white interests.
The only brighter future we can possibly have is one where everyone is represented. The role of good Government is to move our country forward for the good of all Bermudians. We need working class Bermudians just as much as we need those who create employment opportunities. No segment of our country is insignificant, unimportant or irrelevant.
The choice that I am presenting today is for us to move forward in a positive direction of Government representing all of our interests while developing and utilizing all of our human resources. We need a growing economy that benefits everyone.
On the other hand, we can stay mired in a defiant ‘us against them’ attitude where emotional, divisive speeches filled with slogans and empty promises is all we are given, while the quality of our life continues to decline.
Today is a good day because when Bermudians are given a choice we will always choose to move forward positively. That choice begins today.