During the debate on the draft bill paving the way for a national poll on the port, McLean read from a 7-year-old letter McLaughlin sent to the governor making the opposite arguments about that referendum than those he has made about the current one.

The first of the opposition members to speak in the debate, McLean defended the Cruise Port Referendum campaigners from the allegations the premier had made against them. He disputed the idea that they had engaged in any underhand tactics as they collected signatures on the petition that successfully triggered a people’s vote.

McLean derided government for making the supervisor of elections “chase the elusive dream of unverification”, but he focused his criticisms on what he called the “hypocrisy” of the premier and other members. He outlined this by reading McLaughlin’s correspondence from 2012 on the eve of the OMOV referendum, when McLaughlin was the opposition leader.

He pointed out how McLaughlin had cried foul over the date selected by then premier McKeeva Bush, who called a snap referendum while campaigners were still collecting signatures to trigger a people’s vote. The campaign had targetted November of that year for the poll date, but Bush’s decision to “hijack” the process and set the poll for July had been a source of outrage for McLaughlin.

In his letter to Duncan Taylor, the governor at the time, he listed numerous concerns, not unlike the ones campaigners are raising now about the date and campaign finance, which this time McLaughlin has failed to address. Back then, as opposition leader, McLaughlin had been enraged by Bush’s use of public cash to campaign against OMOV.

McLean’s colleges on the opposition benches all spoke against how government has handled this process and the attacks of the grassroots campaign that opposes the port project.

Deputy Opposition Leader Alva Suckoo said the premier was wrong to attack the campaigners and said he should be congratulating them for reigniting people’s faith in democracy at a time when many were losing hope. He took aim at the level of anger, ridicule and twisted facts that the premier and others in government have aimed at CPR and warned that they do so at their own risk, given that this group is more than 5,000 strong.

Suckoo urge government to make amendments to the bill that would address the concerns, especially those outlined in the legal opinion that the CPR sought, otherwise he did not think he could support the legislation, despite being fully behind the referendum.

Ezzard Miller, the independent member for North Side, delivered a direct and articulate contribution outlining the significant gamble the government is taking with what he argued was an unnecessary capital project. He said he had always opposed the cruise berthing project for a number of reasons, even before the campaign began.

Miller said that since the 1980’s the cruise lines have been threatening to stop coming here unless we construct piers, as he asked members to recall the cruise companies claiming they would not bring the ‘Freedom’ class of ships. But they did. The ships will not stop coming because their customers want to come to Cayman, he said, noting that even now the cruise lines have confirmed that they will not stop calling on this destination, regardless of whether or not the proposed project goes ahead.

But the major issue that government has failed to address is the limited number of mega ships actually being built, Miller said. The idea that the industry is transitioning to massive ships is simple not supported by the industry statistics for ship construction over the next decade. Representatives from Verdant Isle, the preferred bidder on the project, have admitted that if, or when, the cruise project is completed more than three years from now, there will only be two of mega ships sailing in the Caribbean.

Miller said he had asked on numerous occasions for a full presentation and justification for this project from the tourism minister, but he was still waiting. He said that even the government’s own figures don’t justify the project or provide a rationale. He said he was unconvinced that government had made the argument that it was necessary to save the cruise sector.

Outlining a list of things that the piers will not achieve, such as cutting disembarkation rates, allowing people to take more trips, keeping cruise ships here longer or even get more money out of passengers, he said it would, however, take out as much as $26 million from the local economy by putting numerous waterfront business, such as restaurants and dive-shops, out of business, in addition to the loss of significant reefs and wrecks.

Government, Miller added, was telling white lies about the dredging impact at Hog Sty Bay because the lack of a physical dredging machine in that area did not mean the marine environment there would be safe. He pointed out that the plumes of silt and sediment will still kill the reefs. Other destinations in this region have ruined their marine environments to cater to the cruise ships, only to be let down, he warned as he urged his colleagues to learn the lessons from other destinations, such as Jamaica and the Bahamas.

Miller asked someone on the government bench to name just one country that has had consistent growth in the cruise sector, as Cayman has, that did better after putting in a pier. Urging government to retain Cayman’s unique product, he said it should focus on the many other challenges facing Caymanians, from health care to traffic, rather than this narrow special interest project. He said pressing ahead would create a whole list of new problems in the future for the country’s infrastructure, as he warned that there were simply too many risks.

Miller said that he would support the bill because he could stand up all night trying to get government to change the date or tackle other issues but it would be a waste of time. Instead, he told his colleagues, he would be knocking on every door in North Side and encouraging his constituents to go to the poll and vote no. The veteran politician also said he had faith that CPR could do the same thing and bring out all those people who were nervous about signing a public petition to exercise their democratic right.