Ministers want to lock gate on Cabinet status grants
(CNS): Ministers Kenneth Bryan and Dwayne Seymour have called for a freeze on granting Caymanian status to residents who have been here for at least 15 years or who apply through Cabinet. The government frontbenchers said this was their own view and not yet a PACT policy, as it hadn’t been discussed. But they said that the increase in “non-generational Caymanians” negatively impacts political power, cultural values, business opportunities, housing and public spending.
In 2017, when Seymour was re-elected to parliament as an independent candidate, he ran on a very popular policy of stopping all work permits until local people had all secured “decent jobs”. But having joined the PPM coalition front bench, he did not deliver on that campaign promise.
He is now the labour minister and in a position to do so if he can secure the support of another three Cabinet colleagues, but despite his position and his ministerial portfolio, he has said that these ideas have not been discussed with either the PACT caucus or its inner circle.
Speaking last week on For the Record, Radio Cayman’s morning talk show, in the first of two appearances by the two men together, the ministers said they wanted to see an end to the granting of status to those who are not married or related in some way to a Caymanian.
On Monday, Tourism Minister Bryan said he felt it was “time to lock the gate” on status grants, which also convey voting rights, to prevent expatriates from influencing local politics. “We are giving away voting power” and conveying “principal freedoms”, such as the right to create and own a business outright, Bryan said, explaining at length the impact that status grants have on “who has power and control in your country”.
Exposing populist sentiments, the MP for George Town Central said that “non-generational Caymanians” could have principles that are different from the cultural norms of Caymanians who were born and grew up here. He added that the government would eventually be elected by a majority of voters who are non-native, having arrived here with different values and without a true understanding of Caymanian culture.
Bryan suggested that a government elected by non-generational voters might even ban turtle meat because they don’t understand its significance to the local population. Housing, the pressure on infrastructure, public spending and the development of businesses are all being impacted by the increase in Caymanians who came from elsewhere, Bryan and Seymour stated.
The two Cabinet members said the problems start with the creation of Caymanians from the immigrant population through the controversial points system towards residency that awards a significant number of points for land and home ownership. Expatriates can get up to 30 of the 110 points they need to secure residency by buying property, but the ministers said they want to see the credit for property ownership removed.
The points system, alongside the sale of property to non-residents, has now distorted the local housing market demand so much that most local people can no longer afford to buy a home in their own country.
Seymour said it was vital that Caymanians see and feel the benefit from Cayman’s growth as the new status holders were diluting the benefits. “We need to slow it down, to try to find a way for Caymanians to benefit… If we had a model that was wrong for the last 40 years, let’s review that,” he said.
Turning to the issue of permanent residency, Seymour said the issue of status grants could not be tackled without addressing this. Bryan said that getting PR created a straight path to Caymanian status unless an applicant has committed a serious crime, and suggested limiting work permit holders to five years.
Citing the latest figures from Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman, Seymour noted that there are currently 35,646 work permit holders, which is yet another record with more coming every day, and 6,599 permanent residents, most of whom will be able to apply for status.
Seymour said that in the first instance, he was working on bringing a paper to caucus to address the PR system and the points process. “The problems that are coming along with the increase in the number of status grants are affecting our people in a negative way,” he added.
Bryan said that limiting the number of permanent residents and status holders would not necessarily reduce Cayman’s overall population but would “control who has power and control in your country”.
He said all Caymanians, including new Caymanians who already have status and are part of the community, needed to engage in this discussion so the government could come up with a way to protect all of their rights and help to ensure they retain political control.
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bryan and seymour…a perfect example of why cayman needs to let expats to be able to run for office.
thank you!
laughable stuff from a couple of dim-witted locals.
you want a war???…you got it, and there will be only one winner.
Yeah. The lawyers.
Bring it on!
Both are to stupid to know they’re dumb.
‘too’ stupid. Thanks
Laugh!
I will change my voting area and vote for whoever makes this pass. I will ensure my entire family also votes for whoever makes this pass. Cayman is supposed to be for Caymanians. Not for foreigners. The only people upset are foreigners. There are some good ones. But the Nuevo ones are very much anti Caymanian. The upper class ones keep the locals out of their clubs, jobs, schools. There’s a sprinkle of us lucky few that are allowed to interact with them. Yet we are to be accepting.
Stop this now. We are not Little UK/Canada/South Africa/Jamaica/Philippines.
There is NO WAY the UK can allow this to happen because it is a blatant violation of human rights. You simply can’t allow people to remain here indefinitely without giving them a path to permanent residency and citizenship (if they want it). The only way this could conceivably happen is of Cayman to go independent, and the ramifications of that will affect your bank account far more than 50,000 expats will ever do.
Open you eyes. It is already happening. They are simply not processing PR and status applications. Granted, a short term policy with an inevitable conclusion, but it will last until the next election.
Kenneth and his ex pat wife. Clown.
So you want to grow the population to 100k to 150k yet you don’t seem to want expats or at least you don’t want any of them to stay. You clowns haven’t thought this through have you. You just got drunk together and thought, this will sound great and guarantee us votes.
This fledgling conspiracy doesn’t carry with the expat voters that now hold 30-65% of some main districts since 2004. They got PR, then Naturalised against Kurt Tibbetts’ initial attempts to stall that process, then CI Status at 15+ years, then registering at Elections Office, waiting for that list to be Gazetted, and they got their voter card. They have been on the back foot, and personally understand – like only someone who has done this all the way can – what it’s like to keep jumping. Even now, some are told they will never stand on par as their fellow Caymanians, always Paper, Drfitwood, Inferior…CIG boards continue to disregard or meddle their lawful standing. So be it. Such a block would love to vote to correct past wrongs. To ban recklessly stupid people from high office, maybe starting with these two, and they have the full right to do so.
I can think of nothing better than increasing status grants to qualified PR holders. When you look at the present elected officials it is clear the gene pool is very limited if not dried up. What’s better than someone who is educated (Not in Cayman) and can make intelligent decisions. These two village idiots are the poster children for why things have to change🤡🤡🤡
There are plenty of generational Caymanians capable of leadership. They’re too busy trying to make ends meet in your expat-run slave shop businesses to run for office. They can’t acquire independent wealth anymore because the economy is saturated and you can’t open a hardware store or a bank now. I would like to take my advanced degrees and grab a dozen friends and stand for office but I’ve seen good people with good intentions try it and fail to get in or get much done. If 35-40 year old Caymanians educated overseas could afford to run for office, could afford to become public figures overnight and acquire tarnished reputations and polarise community and family based on political ties etc., they would, but instead we are focused on making ends meet working for expats and having peaceful Caribbean lives as much as possible. It’s too high a price to pay, and not even the Premier earning CI$300K has been enough to attract better people to politics.
Dear MR. Seymour,
How can you say in this current environment that Caymanians aren’t benefiting? We have a record low unemployment which is effectively zero. We have record high government spending and most government employees are Caymanian. Start looking around. CEOs and VPs of MANY major companies are Caymanian. Senior and middle management of many major companies are Caymanian. Senior civil servants are almost all Caymanian. Many partners at the big accounting and law firms are Caymanian. Small accounting and law firms are heavily Caymanian. Are there any unemployed or underemployed Caymanian Doctors or healthcare workers? Not to my knowledge. Our education system is full of employed Caymanians.
At the end of the day the economy that pays for all of this has more roles in it to play than this country has citizens. We have one of the highest GDP per capita in the world; and yes that is skewed by some people very high up earning a ton of money but at the end of the day we’re all benefiting from an economy that is performing overall incredibly well.
The economy performs this well because of the local framework for business, the local people, and the expatriate people. We all need each other to make this keep working.
If work permit holders do not have any path towards eventual Status or Citizenship they will not be incentivized to come here or invest here or grow roots here. They may still come here on Kenny’s 5-year plan and leave without ever developing any connection with the people or the country and take every dollar they can with them when they go.
Is that really the society you want to create? Let’s bring in the most opportunistic expats we can find who will only move here for a tax-free buck; then they make every penny they can and split? That sounds horrible.
Let’s be really honest about which Caymanians are suffering and why you’re saying this foolishness. The Caymanians who are suffering are those who struggle to retain gainful employment and higher wages. Cost of living is going up and up and they can’t make ends meet. These people are real, their struggle is real and they shouldn’t be ignored. But literally none of that is the result of expatriates gaining status. This country has always had a high cost of living. If you wanted to reduce it, then reduce the duty on imports. You have record government surplus due to all the people here and the cost of imported goods so it’s time to drop that duty percentage and give something back to the people. I will point out briefly that the restriction on older cars effectively increased the cost of living for everyone since there is no improvement to public transit.
None of the problems you allude to are the fault of expatriates. By definition they cannot vote and therefor all the elected officials who keep getting elected and doing nothing to improve the lives of the very people you’re speaking about are elected by Caymanians alone.
Here’s the bottom line: you need these people to vote for you next term and since you’ve done NOTHING else to help them you’re coming up with this as a feather you can put in your hat to say “look it’s the expats’ fault and I’m trying to save you; Vote for me!”
You should both be ashamed of yourselves.
I can say I have met both of you multiple times. I have had conversations with both of you multiple times. You would not remember me or pick me out of a crowd and for that I am glad as I do not want to be on your radar. Both of you are incredibly unintelligent and an embarrassment to our country. If you had any integrity you’d just resign and let someone better do the job.
But let’s be honest nobody in the private sector would ever give either of you a job so you’re stuck clinging to politics as your only hope of income. Maybe if we change rollover to 5 years like Kenny wants we can also do term limits for politicians?
Sincerely,
Disappointed and embarrassed
Term limits for politicians sounds like a great idea. Perhaps an IQ test as well as a pre-qualifier. And change the rile that allows people with criminal convictions but for offences carrying less than 12 months of imprisonment to an absolute ban on anyone with a criminal conviction. Otherwise we are saying we dont mind petty criminals being politicians, or rather we dont mind those that can persuade the authorities to only charge them with lesser offences, like common assault rather than ABH, from running.
Wow, I could not have expressed my disappointment any better. Well said. Thank you!!
A culture survives and flourishes on it’s own merits. If Caymanian culture is disappearing as claimed, it’s because young Caymanians are choosing not to do the things their parents and grandparents did. Of course it is the preserve of the lowest politicians world wide to blame foreigners to win the least thoughtful votes. If a culture is worth preserving it will be. The Cayman tradition of gentle and kind friendliness is alive and well in the Caymanians I know. If that aspect of the culture is disappearing it’s because of the base rhetoric of these two over employed chancers.
Well said! I’m not from Cayman, but I have been here for almost a decade, and my family and I love Cayman and Caymanians for their friendliness and community-minded spirit. These two individuals do not represent the Caymanians that we know and love.
I am an expat but I mix with a lot of Caymanians and their frustration is palpable and, in my opinion, justified however I think they’re directing their ire at the wrong people. It’s not our fault their elective representatives are stupid, incompetent and / or corrupt. They should be seeking reform to ensure that capable people are in office. Not these two.
Well said, Anonymous 9:38am!
Culture disappears when there are more outside influences than rooted influences. The same is happening to America where American history curriculums are being changed and key points of American patriotic history are being removed… native citizens do not choose to lose their own history and culture; it happens when there are too many immigrants in one country. You do not find India and China struggling with loss of culture and history.
Yeah, right, China’s culture is exactly they way it was 50 years ago. And the main influence on Cayman culture has been one thing: money. When you have it, you now longer have to dance around the maypole for fun.
China is a communist state. But you right wing nutters are now into commies.
Actually, China is a hybrid capitalist-communist superpower.
The government made bold moves to shore up their markets and industries in the great recession from 2008-2009, and came out ahead of literally every country.
The modern day China is a remarkable country, with massive new bridges and roads rapidly modernizing their infrastructure.
Tis but a matter of time until they eclipse the United States in GDP.
Jeremy Clarkson on China’s road networks.
https://youtu.be/4-XDxCb92X4
Good! Lock the gates. Too many expats coming here and *purposely* diluting out the blood heritage of Caymanians instead of embracing it as their own as they should if they intend to become a Caymanian.
I cannot believe I had to get in an argument with a bunch of expats in a facebook group the other day about my right to eat turtle. Only for the expat admin to side with the other expats, of course. Wish they’d just pack up and leave if they don’t like our heritage; maybe then the younger Caymanians could afford property.
Instead.. they face unchecked gentrification from foreigners.. and god forbid we speak about this issue else we’re labeled as “racist”.
You can see by the thumbs count on your post that we are already outnumber 2 to 1 in everything within the country our ancestors colonized.
Diluted “blood heritage?” That sounds like something talked about in the 1930s and 40s.
Bingo. The right wing nimrods embrace nationalism just like many Germans did.
Dear God. Is it election season already? Can we not wait a few more months at least before ramping up the rhetoric?
Why not just adjust how many generations Caymanian you need to be to run for office versus telling people they cannot immigrate here. I mean we all came here at some point. Although with some people’s mindsets they *could* have been here since the Jurassic period.
How dare you! My great great great grandfather was a mosquito on this empty island before anyone else.
Nice try but my ancestors were turtles and Columbus found them here.
I can actually trace my lineage over 250 years here. No turtles or mosquitos involved. But go ahead with the racism.
Two heads, one voice, half a brain cell.
No brain cell!
“A government elected by non generational voters may even ban turtle meat” not knowing it’s significance to the population! I thought that was a funny thing to say coming from the mouth of a Gov Minister! A lot of generational Caymanians can’t even afford a plate of turtle meat these days
They cant afford it because the government continues to tax the hell out of everything from fuel to food, whilst spending money like its water on really important stuff like their salaries and vanity projects like overseas representative offices.
Can someone remind me who Kenny married? Pretty sure it was an expat and not a generational caymanian.
Shhh don’t tell the woters.
Isent cabinet status grants only limited to two grants per year as far as I can recall !!
Bit much being told that my culture and I are not welcome here by a convicted drug dealer and real estate pimp. Is the other one the donkey guy from lock down? Dear god I can see why they don’t want anyone with an IQ over 80 getting a vote.
Steady now. He’s not just the donkey guy. He’s also the man that tried to beat up his ex wife’s lover and threatened the security guard who witnessed it.
Gotta protect those sacred vessels…
Bit rich considering KB’s wife is an expat who got her status through marrying him and is now .. a Realtor!
All the things they claim to be against. Irony.
Public any ministers to remove illegal billboards and be breathalyzed when crashing in to light poles.
Everything that spews rom these boys mouths are for campaigning reasons.
This one they truly believe in their demented spheres. It keeps coming up. Evangelical wingnut church right especially.
Status Grants? Permanent Residency? First of all, you would have to be brave enough to ask that kind of question. I don’t know who would be that stupid. But I can tell you the story of Joseph and Mary when Mary was still a virgin. And everybody laughed at Joseph. But he turned out to be a best story ever. And also, Jesus chose to ride a donkey. A jackass. Instead of getting a horse. I hope that answers it.
Amen
Yet they will happily grant status to some gangbanger who got a Caymanian girl in the family way? Understand how that appeals to Kenny’s constituency, but not sure how it floats with the multi generational Christian vote
What is Kenneth’s plan to educate and train Caymanians to take all those juicy jobs
Same as his plan was for public transport
These two want to destroy the economy. Dangerous rhetoric.
This is all about pandering to the masses with ignorant proclamations and people who should know better are encouraging these two idiots. Tell me gents if we stop granting status to those who have been here 15 years, who is going to pay the legal costs including damages ?
Who is going to tell all those law firms and asset managers that have built their practices here in the assurance to imported staff that many years of service will translate into long term residence that it’s all s’more, and they would have been better building a career elsewhere? You may as well introduce income tax – wholesale migration of talent to other jurisdictions, not least since many of the major firms have already established practices there.
Some of the law firms are criminal enterprises. Literally. Damn them.
Bold of you to assume I want status.
Can you all start by putting a cap on real estate agents on work permits? Every day there is a new agent benefiting from Sales with a name I can’t even pronounce, When there are many Caymanians who could hold that position. Sad.
So why don’t they?
So so true. All the Caymanian realtors I know want this too.
Isn’t a current honourable minister’s wife an expat real estate agent ?
They are the last 2 people you would ever vote for after dedicating 15 years of your life and career to the island. And they know it.
Dedicated to yourself you mean.
I’m sick of paying my work permit fees year after year, despite being retired for 5 years, and being on the island almost 17 years now. I was supposed to be granted status after 15 years if I jumped through all your hoops and paid over all the tens of thousands in fees.
There are no grounds to refuse me status so just do it! All these new voters will certainly know who not to vote for after this. Me included. Protecting the Cayman people? Don’t make me laugh – protecting your own asses so they can continue in your easy job with massive pay and benefits and all those ‘side benefits too’.
You’ll eventually be judged for all you’ve done wrong.
Don’t go away mad. Just go away.
29 @ 4:59 pm – Hmm…. 17 years on island and retired 5 years, thousand of $$ in fees? I don’t think you can just buy Status.
Why not just retire to wherever you came here from? Probably cheaper to live. Just saying!
are they too young to remember the Bahamas debacle! Will OC please educate them next time they show up on his radio programme. I really don’t feel like dealing with them right now. I will say this though, if I had ten votes I would not waste one on either one of them.
The Bahamas debacle? The Bahamian people had a leader who stood up with and for his people! Today when you visit the Bahamas you are greeted by the Bahamian people who work in blue and white collar positions, unlike the general sorrowful situation here. Criticise if you must but the Bahamas is for Bahamians and they are the better for it. I have great respect for them.
It’s high time that the Governor or even His Majesty King Charles put an end to bad governance lkke these guys want.
@8:37 – You ever actually talk to someone from the Bahamas about crime rate and how things are over there?
Yes, they love their own people so much they ban them from gambling in their casinos.
Go there often?
Im there 6 months a year and the Bahamians have no jobs and a poor standard of living.
When you go to the Bahamas you are greeted by a *grumpy soul* usually.
Good lord, don’t expect OC to disagree with them! They are singing out of the same song book as him.
It’s Bahamas’ going independent that gave us our financial industry.
All the banks, Trust companies and associated businesses hightailed it to a stable British territory, where politicians could not make arbitrary self serving decisions.
Now these clowns who have never held a job , are trying to undo that.
The Bahamas went through pain, but it was a means to an end. They now have dominance in their country; as it should be.
“Lift up your head to the rising sun, Bahamaland,
March on to glory, your bright banners waving high,
See how the world marks the manner of your bearing;
Pledge to excel thro’ love and unity.
Pressing onward, march together, to a common loftier goal;
Steady sunward tho’ the weather hide the wide and treacherous shoal.
Lift up your head to the rising sun, Bahamaland,
’til the road you’ve trod lead unto your God, March on Bahamaland.”
Mediocrity of the highest order bottom feeding straight from Crass Populism 101.
The next election cycle is going to be terrible as simpletons like Kenny and John John try to stay in office.
I expect even more demonization of expats and silly proposals that would weaken the jurisdiction but play well with many voters.
Kenny should never have been allowed to run for office, big thank you Magistrate Phillipa McFarlane for not recording his assault conviction. And Big D should have been given a breathalyzer test after that light pole jumped in front of his car. But Wayne was there to save his PACT government.
Every Caymanian should be embarrassed by the fact that these two are sitting ministers in the government…
CNS: An assault conviction is not a disqualification to be an MP. As per section 62 of the CI Constitution, only a conviction for dishonesty offences or serving jail time of at least 12 months results in disqualification.
upvoting CNS’s comment
It should be. You think Kenny will bring a motion?
FWIW my understanding of the situation came from CNS’ original reporting, but I stand corrected, thank you to CNS for researching.
Maybe we should ask why being a convicted drug dealer and also being found guilty of assaulting a police officer do not disqualify someone from holding office.
Many elder voters thankfully recall Bahamas post-independence flirtation with Pindling’s nationalistic xenophobia – they learned that lesson the hard way. Freeport became a ghost-town. Bermuda was gifted a reinsurance industry, and Cayman got banking, while also receiving many highly-skilled migrating professionals, who later helped form the basis for a robust hedge funds industry – paying the bills today. We shouldn’t be surprised to learn that these two failed regional history class, but it should be disqualifying nevertheless. Vote more carefully Cayman. Learning from others’ terrible misfortune really counts, because it spares us having to relive it with our own wallets.
It is unjust to label concern about losing your homeland’s culture as xenophobia. Many multigenerational Caymanians can’t and likely never will be able to afford homes in Cayman despite Cayman being one of the wealthiest islands in the world. Also, an ever-increasing GDP isn’t always worth the destruction of a counties identity.
Then make your government and fellow Caymanians accountable for selling out/poor policies. Can’t you see that successive governments have been screwing you over long time? Look at cause, not effect.
Cause and effect are the same. Jamaicans.
It’s not the politicians, it’s that the policies are too deeply embedded. Everyone in officialdom has the same playbook.
No one is stopping Caymanians from attaining higher education, useful degrees, modern technical skills and proper work ethic.
All irrelevant in the hands of certain unscrupulous employers.
Why do you think everyone used to go to sea? Because there was literally nothing in Cayman. Most couldn’t afford property then either except by working somewhere else. When I first visited 50 years ago, the baggage claim was outdoors. We went to the grocery store to stock up and the shelves were totally empty, except for a wooden bin of cassava and a lonely row of tinned anchovies. Had to wait until the ship arrived. Half of the people were living in shacks. There was lots of stealing and machete fighting. It as much worse than everyone claims to remember.
As usual these 2 populist clowns have gone off half-cocked. It truly is scary when elected members of the House don’t even know what’s in the law they are debating.
Cabinet only has the power to make 5 grants of the ‘Right to be Caymanian’ (commonly called ‘Caymanian Status’) in each calendar year. This change to the law was made by the PPM government in 2005 to prevent further mass Cabinet Grants such as was done in 2003 by Mac and the UDP government.
It might help if these 2 jokers actually had a read of the law before they propose ‘solutions’.
Some of our MPs must be quite worried about these expatriates getting the vote and not understanding the Caymanian culture. These foreigners with their weird ways come from countries where people found guilty of beating up women would never be elected, nor would convicted drug dealers be voted in.
Ummmm…..you heard of a guy named Trump? A total boy scout, almost priestly.
Look at em, they don’t know that all the props they have on the table just make them look dumb.!
We need to lock the gate on low-brow characters running for and achieving high office. Voters need to petition for changes to the Elections Law so that convicted criminals can never again occupy the chambers where laws and regulations are forged, budgets and vendors decided, or become signatories on secret binding deals and withdrawals from our public purse. They will not self-terminate.
For once I agree with Kenneth Brian (Lord help me). BUT IF Cabinet issues any more Caymanian Status, they should be given to persons of Caymanian ancestry from the Isle of Pines, Honduras Bay Islands, San Andres, US Gulf Coast and other places Caymanian families settled in prevalence. Bring OUR culture back into our mix….NO more Jamaican culture, enough is enough!
Anyone who has invested 15 or more years of their Earthly life in Cayman, buying property, keeping a job, and generally contributing as a good neighbour, can stay as long as they like. The habit of being an assh*le should not be mistaken for cherished culture, even if it was learned from your elders. Others have tried, and there are expensive merit-filled legal reasons why these civics-class failing bozos cannot try to suspend the lawful path to citizenship again. We need smarter people on both the nomination roll, and our voter roster – the more and sooner the better, Lord willing. God Bless our hard working Jamaicans, nothing worth doing would get done without them – and apologies for the poster above. A Caymanian.
But, didn’t Cayman get settled from Jamaica ?
Jamaica was surrogate mum until it chose independence and Cayman chose to remain and keep its British ties.
Thanks to Dr. Roy McTaggart we missed the bullet on that one. We are overwhelmed by Jamaican influence, but can you imagine how it would have been without his intervention just at the right time.
100% by way of. Many pre-1980 Caymanian politicians gulped their first breaths in Jamaica before the GT Hospital.
30 @ 1:30 PM. – Like who, may I ask? Name names please or shut up. You’re grasping at straws.
Like Kurt Tibbetts, for example…
Mouths can say anything when they learn to speak. They are securing their own political longevity by proposing such ideas.
Being elected for either of their electoral districts requires only a small pool of votes to keep them solidly entrenched in their own form of garrison politics.
To suggest that this is for love of country… yea, we were all born yesterday.
If we allow more people to become citizens of Cayman, we dilute their voting base making it very possible for individuals who look out for themselves, and yes, a small few to run the risk of not being reelected.
God forbid we have intelligent people in our political system that may actually give a damn of where Cayman is headed, and may be able to be a rudder to help steer the course.
And before we get into expat bashing, yes, I am a 5th generation Caymanian.
These guys are a couple of clowns.
“Tourism Minister Bryan said he felt it was “time to lock the gate” on status grants, which also convey voting rights, to prevent expatriates from influencing local politics. “We are giving away voting power” and conveying “principal freedoms”, such as the right to create and own a business outright.”
Its called Immigration, those status holders have been granted Caymanian Citizenship and all the entitlements it brings with it.
I’ll tell you who I’m not voting for….
Maybe because you can’t vote oh, virtuous aggrieved victim. LOL
Ya I can, misinformed troll.
Don’t bother.
One of the best ideas these two have ever come up with. Permanent residence and status should be stopped and let Caymanians build themselves back up. We are being squeezed out in every direction right now.
Looks like all the foreigners are really getting upset. Guess Bryant & Seymour will be getting relieved of their positions because they stuck up for Caymanians. And that means no cabinet grants for selected persons either. What ever happened to the old way of applying for status, when the applicant had to publish their name and picture in the Compass inviting anyone who objected to do so? Guess that violates human rights. Good luck guys and please get this one put thru ASAP.
Emjoy your banana republic economy if this comes to fruition.
It will be nice because the like of people like you will have left for greener pastures!
one can only wish.
Don’t get sucked into this us vs them argument, everyone who lives and works here wants Cayman to be better. Read a bit of history on divisive politics, on the surface they sound good to some, but dig a little deeper and their argument falls flat on its face. We should all work towards making a bigger pie and not fight over a pie that is getting smaller.
Cabinet can grant Caymanian status?! That explains a lot, holy crap.
29 @ 2:51pm – Yes, that was the big political disaster of 2003 promoted by McSleeza! That was the final sell-out of Cayman to many expats but worse…their minor dependents!
Guess which nationality took advantage of that and brought oodles of dependents to clog our NAU, health and school systems, among other negatives!!
For once I agree with Kenneth Bryan. Never thought I’d ever say that!!
What does it say that even with the minimum threshold of cross-verified Caymanian voters signing and submitting two lawful Petitions for a Referendum on Cruise Ship Berthing, such Referendum was still not convened. What good is this consolidated voting power if the lousy corrupt politicians won’t even heed these most preferred voices? How many voters petitioned to remove McKeeva? Zero. How many petitioned to ban nominations of criminals? Zero. Not a superior democratic track record so far…
It’s currently only 4 per year maximum this is a distraction from two motions who never even read the law
I’d like to say that these two are a disgrace to these islands. An ex-drug dealing, realtor-promoting ego and a mentally challenged man who thinks laws do not apply to him.
Let us hope that the Premier, Deputy Governor, and Governor call these two out on this nationalistic and dangerous rhetoric immediately.
Rhetoric such as this drives investments away and might even affect the stay over tourism industry.
Kenny’s wife is also a realtor. Why would he want to damage that industry since he surely benefits from her sales.
Did we not learn nay lessons from the prior ban on status grants? The Privy Council decision gave us the situation we are in today. CIG has every right to decide the rules for granting of status but they can’t pull the rug out from under those that have followed the rules with this non formal freeze on PR and Status grants. I keep hearing that any day now a suit will be filed that will compel WORC/CIG to hear applications. You reap what you sow.
Where is that ruling that you refer to that forced CIG’s hand for the status grants?
Can’t find the direct citation but the gist is that in the 90’s CIG decided to no longer accept or hear applications for status. A person challenged this decision and it went to Privy Council. The challenger won and the ruling was that the CIG could not just stop hearing applications and that they the had to go back and remedy all of the grants that should have taken place. The UK government was about to impose new rules on CIG for Status and to stop that from happening the Bush government in 2003 made the 2500 status grants to meet the court requirement and created the mess of an immigration system we have now.
I was here through this process and this is my recollection but am happy for others to clarify.
Untrue. The Cabinet status grants were an act of state sponsored corruption. They were not required. The Board could (and did) grant hundreds of people status in addition to those granted by Mac.
maybe take a poll of Caymanian employers as to how reliable their Caymanian employee’s are on a scale of 1-10
I’ll take -3 for $200 Alex.
There they go generalizing. This happens far too often in the workplace. Caymanians are treated like crap just because they are Caymanians. Thankfully, I can defend myself, and the last person that tried talking down to me found out quite quickly that I was not a pushover, resorting to them lying and getting caught. My fellow Caymanians, control your emotions and “play fool to catch wise” with these ex-pats (not all) that do not want to see us succeed.
Can’t argue with stupid.
At least they are more upfront than all the other wannabe autocrats out there and saying the quiet part out loud “we want to choose our voters so we stay in power, not have the voters choose us”. Congratulations on shooting any legal argument you may have had in the foot.
Absolute morons.
This is scary, just look at negative impact these two self-serving morons could deliver if they were allowed to. We need to stop any support for this type of behaviour now, it doesn’t benefit Cayman for the future and just makes us more like a banana republic.
Caymanian status should be given to people born in Cayman or if your parents were born in Cayman.
Bunch of crap in the end,
downvote me to the seven-mile beach, please.
I agree with that. Born here or to Caymanian parents makes sense. Our island is too small to accommodate a 100k+ population. Also even if you don’t agree with every aspect of Caymanian culture people shouldn’t be trying to change it. It’s just plain disrespectful. I feel too many ex-pats are trying to force their politics and views on Cayman with little respect for the island’s history and values. My 10 cents as a first-generation Caymanian (born and raised here).
Hope you kept the catboat, because your country will become a banana republic with widespread violence amd mayhem as the economy crashes.
You do realise that you’re apart of the hated ones?
2.32pm A Caymanuan should have been defined in the Constitutiin as one being born in Cayman and one parent and grandparent also. most of our troubles now stem from Jamaicans with Status taking advantage of everything put in place to help Caymanians.
The presence of Kenny and Jon-Jon in Cabinet is an overwhelmingly powerful argument in favour of anything which might bring about political change.
They are so afraid of competent people taking office.
Most Caymanians feel the same way. This is our country.
How is their position as elected leaders different or wrong when compared to how Brits voted on Brexit?
Canadians feel the same way about newcomers to their country where everything is subsidized for foreigners and new Canadians that have not contributed a penny in most cases to the government coffers.
Americans have always been pro-American and worried being overrun by foreigners. Especially Anglo-Americans.
South Africans at least the white ones want a return to the glory days and leadership of the country by whites.
Australia is clear about if you don’t like their policies leave.
These are a few examples yet the expectation is for Cayman to welcome all and grants voting rights, citizenship and rights to all that come here on a work permit. That is unrealistic for such a country with only 30,000 multi-generational Caymanians.
It will not happen. We will not allow it.
So accept our rules or go back home where life apparently is better and all the rights you want are entrenched making it the perfect place minus the taxes, crime, high cost of living and chaos.
4:55 I agree with you. People are very quick to thrown out the xenophobia or racism card without really thinking about what they are saying.
Culture and identity are important. Anywhere you go in the world we all have our own unique identities. People wouldn’t dare go to India, Africa or China and try to change their way or their culture. But people think its ok to do that to Cayman, the UK or the US!? Ridiculous.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to preserve your culture from those that want it eradicated. Cayman should be proud of its heritage. We are brave, loyal and our strong sense of community and connection to the sea make us who we are. No one has the right to take that away nor should we tolerate those who try.
Sod off. You are a nationalist in the worst way.
Internet tough guy basement dweller speaks again.
Just hit a flight their mate and leave us alone!
Cayman Kind. Go back to your home or adapt to our backwards way of life.
Case in point. You are calling Cayman backward. An ex-pat mindset like this is so arrogant and unwelcome. The audacity that you move to this island and try and change things because you think your way is better and the local culture is ‘backward’. Fly home if you don’t like it.
Who? Where?? Why? Brightest what?
Two of the brightest right here.
Two jackasses, two. brain cells among them. First before locking the gates we need you two to get on the outside of the gate. We will manage without you.
Two of the brightest? Where, Where?
Here, here!