ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 High of 86 Low of 76 Moderate with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet. 184523-Ad-Strip-SandCastles.indd 14/10/17 6:59 PM Man arrested for police car vandalism Crash victim’s family critical of RCIPS officer BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service arrested a suspect Friday in connection with what it termed a “criminal attack” against one of its officers’ personal property following last week’s quadruple-fatal two-car smash in East End district. The suspect, 30, a resident of East End, was arrested on suspicion of damage to property but had not been charged with any offenses by press time Monday, according to the RCIPS. The officer was the initial responder to the May 2 crash on Austin Conolly Drive that killed three U.K. tourists and a 22-year-old Ja- maican man. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said the officer’s private vehicle was vandalized outside his home on the night of May 3, about 24 hours after the crash. Police have repeatedly denied that the of- ficer was involved in any chase of the Honda Accord, which the RCIPS said was speeding along the road toward Bodden Town district. Police Chief Inspector Frank Owens said the police car, which was headed in the opposite direction, saw the speeding vehicle, switched his overhead lights on and turned around. By then, the fatal crash had already oc- curred, police said. The crash killed the 22-year-old man driving the Honda, identified as Shanroy Dela- pena of Jamaica. Police said two other people were riding in the trunk of the car, an 11-year- old boy and a 26-year-old man. They were se- riously injured in the crash. U.K. vacationers Ian Mansell, 72, his wife Pamela, 74, and Mrs. Mansell’s sister, Marlene Wright, died in the collision. The mother of the 11-year-old boy in- jured in the crash, Jessica McFarlane, told the Cayman Compass Monday that her son, Joshua, had a different story from the one po- lice were telling, when he returned home from the hospital Thursday night. Ms. McFarlane said her son had been on a boat that night and told her he was riding in the Honda’s trunk on the return trip because CANADIAN CANNABIS COMPANY BEGINS EXPORTS TO CAYMAN KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com Canada’s medicinal cannabis producers have joined Jamaica in testing the Cayman Is- lands as an export market. Saskatchewan-based CanniMed Thera- peutics exported its first international ship- ment of cannabis oils this month, including 12,960 milliliters (12.96 liters or 3.42 U.S. gal- lons) sent to Professional Pharmacy Services, located in CTMH Doctors Hospital pharmacy in George Town. The CTMH pharmacy confirmed it received the product, purchased through Caribbean Medical Distributors Ltd., and has begun dis- pensing the oils to patients with a prescription. The shipment makes Canada the second country, after Jamaica, to export cannabis oils to Cayman since the product was legalized on is- land in October. While the Legislative Assembly legalized the oils for medicinal purposes, it did not approve local production, requiring legally viable product to come from abroad. The Foster’s Food Fair-IGA pharmacy re- ceived its first shipment of the oils from Ja- maica on April 3. The special order arrived in limited quantity for one patient, confirmed Fos- ter’s pharmacist Michael Anderson. The phar- macy is now working to establish stock from Canada and will reserve Jamaica’s more potent product for special orders, the pharmacist said. He said the shipment was handled the same as other narcotic pharmaceuticals, requiring an import certificate through the Health Services Authority. While he has received several inqui- ries, he said many interested individuals had Joy Basdeo presides over 2,000th wedding SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com The waterfront is her chapel and the sands of Seven Mile Beach her aisle. Joy Basdeo, a wedding officiant in the Cayman Islands, presided over another union Friday, when she brought together Marcel Dillard and Shakeira Ebanks in matrimony at the Kimpton Seafire Resort. The ceremony took place in front of the ocean shortly before sunset, and for the happy couple, it was their first day to- gether as a family. For Ms. Basdeo, it was a milestone. The Dillards represent the 2,000th service Ms. Basdeo has performed in her decade as proprietor of Simply Weddings, and she is proudly following in a family tradition. Her parents, Francine and Vernon Jackson, col- lectively performed about 7,500 weddings over several decades. “On a Saturday, it’s nothing for me to do five weddings,” Ms. Basdeo said. “Everybody, everywhere I go, I’ve done their wedding. Or they say, ‘Your parents did my wedding.’” Ms. Basdeo, who previously worked as an English teacher and in government before becoming a wedding officiant, said she never gets nervous before performing a ceremony. Her mother, 88, is still performing wed- dings, and her husband – Sam Basdeo – is Joy Basdeo shares a happy moment – after officiating at her 2,000th wedding – with Marcel Dillard and Shakeira Ebanks and the bridesmaids. - PHOTO: MAGGIE JACKSON PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » MOTHER’S DAY FEATURE Happy Mother’s Day EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 SECTION 12 UNLAWFUL: JUSTICE FOR CAYMAN … BUT NOT FOR DONETTE2 LOCAL NEWS TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS Daily Matinees Every Day $8.00 Seniors, Mon-Fri Before 6pm Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 HOW TO BE A LATIN LOVER (PG13) 1:00 I 3:55 I 7:00 I 9:40 THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS 3D (PG13) 1:30 2D I 3:25 VIP I 8:00 2D I 9:00 SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE (PG) 12:35 I 2:50 I 5:05 I 7:20 I 9:35 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 3D (PG13) 12:25 VIP I 2:00 I 4:35 2D I 5:40 6:30 VIP I 9:30 VIP BOSS BABY 3D (PG) 12:45 2D I 3:50 I 6:50 2D I 9:15 - TUESDAY - SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. 640-FILM (640-3456) Magistrate says sentence should deter others CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A Honduran national ap- peared in Summary Court on Monday, when he pleaded guilty to overstaying and working without a work permit since July 2008. Leonidas Antolin Ruiz admitted remaining in Cayman illegally and working without a permit “for persons unknown.” The defendant, 65, in- dicated that he had been coming to Cayman since 1972 and knew a lot of people here from his time going to sea. In answer to questions from Magistrate Valdis Foldats, he said he had relatives here, but he lived on his own. The charge sheet listed his residence as an area of Bodden Town. The magistrate said the sentence had to be one of custody in order to deter other people from com- mitting these offenses. But he also noted the prac- tical aspects of the situ- ation – whether it was better to “ship him off” or “house him.” He decided to get more information through a so- cial inquiry report. He apol- ogized to the Department of Community Rehabilita- tion for giving officers ad- ditional work, but sug- gested that appointments would be easier to keep with Ruiz in custody. The defendant also pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal trespass: that he was at the premises of a George Town business on May 6 without having lawful business there. Ruiz said he was willing to go to jail and serve his time. He was remanded until June 26 for sentence. Man admits overstaying permit for over a decade BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Changes approved for Pirates Week in its 40th iteration this year may be a “one time only” experiment, according to the head of the Cayman Islands Tourism Attraction Board. Board Chairwoman Carla Reid said shortening the event from about 10 days to five this November, and consolidating Heritage Days into a one-day event in George Town, are subject to change if they do not work out as the board hopes. “We’re going to see if this works,” Mrs. Reid said. “If the districts and the committee decide it’s a keeper, then we’ll go from there.” There has been significant social media backlash since the Pirates Week Committee announced its decision last week to cut back on the number of Heri- tage Days events this year. In the past, each of Grand Cayman’s five districts had its own Heritage Day, in between Pi- rates Week events on the opening and closing weekends of the festival. Residents complained on social media forums like Facebook about “for- eign interests taking over and pushing out” cultural activities and asked the committee to “reevaluate its views.” Ms. Reid said the board and the Pi- rates Week Committee consulted with most of the districts’ Heritage Day com- mittees before making the decision, and those groups had indicated they were re- ceptive to the change. She said the board hopes to boost at- tendance at the combined downtown Her- itage Day event on Nov. 13, which falls on a holiday, with a number of cruise ships scheduled to be in George Town harbor. “The districts understood that this is an opportunity to do something a little bit different,” Ms. Reid said. “People are crying out for a little change [in Pi- rates Week] while maintaining the things that they love like the float parade and the fireworks. “We’re trying to breathe a little bit of life into it and see what we can do.” The new schedule means that all of the major Pirates Week events will be held between Thursday, Nov. 9 and Monday, Nov. 13. The popular cardboard boat races are set to start at 11 a.m. in Hog Sty Bay and end around 2 p.m., about an hour before the pirates landing and float pa- rade at 3 p.m. The “Trial of the Pirates” – the tra- ditional end of the festival – will take place around 7 p.m. Monday, after the Heritage Days event in George Town. Friday, Saturday and Monday nights feature various street dances. A number of other events, including a swim meet, a 5K sea swim, the Pirate Pooch Parade, two Harbour Drive fire- works displays and the children’s fun day on Sunday, will be packed into a tight Friday-Monday schedule. The start of the festival on Thursday, Nov. 9, will feature a Pirates Week happy hour, steel pan competition and a kick- off party downtown from 9 p.m. that night until 2 a.m. Friday. Board says Pirates Week changes may be ‘temporary’ A float representing East End district is seen during the pirates landing parade in November 2016. Some residents are upset about a recent decision to consolidate Heritage Days during this year’s Pirates Week festival. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Fire officer Fabian Oliver Thompson was found guilty on Monday of pos- sessing an imitation firearm with in- tent to resist arrest. He was remanded in custody until June 1 for sentencing. The charge against him arose from an incident in January 2016. Thompson, now 34, first appeared in Summary Court in May 2016. On bail, he later pleaded not guilty and elected trial by judge alone. Justice Malcolm Swift began hearing evidence last week and delivered his ver- dict on Monday morning. He indicated he could infer the intent to resist ar- rest from the fact that Thompson had run from police. The evidence included a video from a Taser gun showing Thompson from the back. Taser wires are seen going into his body and he falls, rolls over, gets up and continues to run. He is apparently car- rying something in his right hand. Defense attorney Prathna Bodden and senior Crown counsel Nicole Petit agreed on how the incident started. On Jan. 20, 2016, uniformed po- lice officers attended a Bodden Town residence to conduct a search under the Misuse of Drugs Law following the arrest of the defendant’s brother, who was in custody at the time. Thompson was not the subject of the search. Various officers gave evidence of their roles in the operation. The court heard that Thompson was in the house when police arrived and he left through the front door, carrying a pair of jeans, while one of the officers spoke with his father. One of the officers shouted “Search him,” but as Thompson made his way past, no one stopped him. After he made his way to another part of the yard, an officer instructed him to stop, but he went over a fence. It was at that point that one of the officers said he saw the defen- dant remove an object from his pants pocket and the officer thought it was a 9mm pistol. The Taser was subsequently deployed. Thompson ran through thick bush and got away, but turned himself in on Jan. 26. He was later interviewed and gave a prepared statement, saying he did not have anything in his waistband. Ms. Bodden argued on Friday that there was no case to answer because all of the elements of the charge had not been sufficiently proved. She submitted that police offi- cers had not provided a descrip- tion of what they thought they saw. No item had been seized and nothing had been found. Referring to the video played in court, Justice Swift asked, “Am I en- titled to take into account my own observations?” Ms. Bodden agreed that he would be, since he was sitting as judge and jury. Ms. Bodden then argued that being in possession of an imitation firearm is not an offense unless a person is using it to commit an offense. Thompson had said he did not have any intent to commit an offense. Justice Swift indicated he would like to hear further argument on intent, and both counsel said they would submit further material over the weekend. After his verdict, the judge said he would provide a full written judgment. Justice Malcolm Swift began hearing evidence last week and delivered his verdict on Monday morning. He indicated he could infer the intent to resist arrest from the fact that Thompson had run from police. Fireman jailed for imitation firearm Foster’s Food Fair IGA has pulled all Aunt Jemima Frozen Pancakes, Frozen Waffles and Frozen French Toast Slices from shelves due to possible contam- ination with Listeria monocytogenes. No illnesses have been reported, but Pinnacle Foods initiated the voluntarily re- call as a precautionary mea- sure after testing indicated the presence of listeria monocytogenes in the plant environment. For the full product list see caymancompass.com. AUNT JEMIMA RECALLThe islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 May 11th - 12th, 2017 Kimpton Seafire Resort Last chance to register Cayman’s first sustainable energy conference Register now at cteccayman.com FABIEN COUSTEAU Keynote Speaker Aquanaut, Ocean Conservationist, and Documentary Filmmaker HON. ALDEN MCLAUGHLIN, MBE, JP, MLA Premier of the Cayman Islands SIR RICHARD BRANSON Via Skype Founder, Virgin Group HON. D. KURT TIBBETTS, OBE, JP, MLA Minister of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure, Cayman Islands TESSA WILLIAMS ROBERTSON Head, Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency Unit, Office of Vice-President (Operations), Caribbean Development Bank DR THE HONOURABLE KEDRICK PICKERING Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources & Labour, British Virgin IslandsThe islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS The court judgment striking down the “immunity clause” in the Health Services Authority Law may be a hollow victory for Norene Ebanks and her disabled daughter Donette Thompson, but it could turn out to be a landmark triumph for other members of our society and for the general concept of justice in the Cayman Islands. In a recent ruling, Justice Richard Williams deter- mined that the controversial “Section 12” of the HSA Law was in contravention of Cayman’s constitutional Bill of Rights. Ms. Ebanks has been trying to sue HSA for alleged negligence she claims led to her daughter being born with severe birth defects in 2005. Up to this point, she had been blocked by the author- ity’s invoking of its blanket immunity from such suits, except where “bad faith” could be proved. Unfortunately for Ms. Ebanks and Donette, Justice Williams ruled that the Bill of Rights, which took effect in 2012, could not be applied retroactively and so did not impact her family’s situation. Where Ms. Ebanks has to turn now in her pursuit of justice is unclear. What is clear, however, is that the ruling does open a window for potential claims from people who have suffered because of HSA actions since 2012. We do not know if there are any complainants to step forward, but the justice has effectively stripped the public health authority of the Section 12 armor pro- tecting it for the past five years. For those victims, the struggle of Ms. Ebanks and her daughter is anything but hollow. Last year, under public pressure and following strong editorials published in the Compass, lawmakers repealed the Section 12 provision of the HSA Law – but they left untouched identical or similar clauses that exist in several other pieces of legislation. When the controversy over the existence of Section 12 began heating up, an initial reaction from politi- cians and officials was to attempt to deny that the consequences of the immunity provisions were delib- erate. The fact that lawmakers repealed Section 12 from the HSA Law, but have not taken action on immunity clauses in other legislation, is incontrovert- ible evidence of their intentions: Specifically, to protect public entities from accountability if they harm or kill a person or destroy their property. While Justice Williams’s ruling does not imme- diately affect those other laws, it could crack open the door for future challenges, particularly when life- threatening injuries or death occurred. (Hypothetically, that gateway could be blown wide open depending on a court’s application of other sections from the Bill of Rights which did not factor into last week’s ruling. For example: “Government shall not interfere in the peaceful enjoyment of any person’s property” … or … “All decisions and acts of public officials must be lawful, rational, proportionate and procedurally fair.”) We do not doubt or disagree with Justice Williams’s interpretation of the law, limiting the recourse that Ms. Ebanks and Donette have through the courts. That being said, there is a distinction between “legal” justice (which Justice Williams must adhere to) and “social” justice (which our government should adhere to). Fundamentally speaking, Ms. Ebanks’s moti- vations have not been to enrich herself or to seek retribution, but to ensure that her disabled daughter receives proper care. We do not understand the purpose of government’s response, whether it was meant to protect the HSA or certain individuals, to preserve the immunity clause itself, or simply an invocation of the immunity clause by reflex. Regardless of legal strictures, it is a primary duty of our government (and any government) to provide for the needs of the most vulnerable members of society, who legitimately cannot provide for themselves. Instead of expending resources on attorneys’ fees, leg- islative drafting and political workarounds, Cayman’s government should be focusing on a moral imperative: Doing the right thing for Donette. Section 12 unlawful: Justice for Cayman … but not for Donette MARC A. THIESSEN Special to The Washington Post The media are framing the defeat of Marine Le Pen in the French presidential elec- tion as a defeat for President Donald Trump and his brand of populist nationalism. The Washington Post reported that “France on Sunday shrugged off the siren call of right-wing populism that enchanted voters in the United States and the United Kingdom” and called the elec- tion of centrist Emmanuel Macron “a pointed endorse- ment of European unity.” No, it wasn’t. The French vote was not an endorsement of globalism or a vote of confidence in the French political establish- ment. It was a rejection of Len Pen’s toxic brand of Puti- nism and anti-Semitism. And the person who should be happiest that Le Pen lost is Trump. She would have been not an ally, but rather, an al- batross for the president, be- cause Le Pen was the left wing’s caricature of Trump come to life. Since Trump’s election, Democrats have tried to paint him as Vladimir Pu- tin’s handpicked president, but in its first months in of- fice the Trump administra- tion has been downright hostile to Russia. Not only did Trump launch missile strikes against Putin’s ally in Syria, Bashar Assad, but also his administration has demanded that Russia leave Ukraine, criticized Putin for reportedly violating the In- termediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, accused Russia of arming the Taliban in Afghanistan and blamed Putin for Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians, with Sec- retary of State Rex Tillerson declaring “either Russia has been complicit or has been simply incompetent on its ability to deliver” on Syr- ia’s disarmament. Le Pen would not have given Putin such a cold shoulder. Unlike Trump, she is openly allied with the Russian autocrat. According to the BBC, “In 2014, the National Front took Rus- sian loans worth [$12 mil- lion]. One of the loans, for [$9.9 million], came from a small bank, First Czech Rus- sian Bank, with links to the Kremlin.” The loan came at precisely the same time as Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which the BBC notes Le Pen supported, “leading some to question whether the loans were a quid-pro- quo.” Then, just weeks be- fore French voters went to the polls for the election’s first round, Le Pen met with Putin in Moscow, where she reportedly criticized Euro- pean Union sanctions on Russia as “unfair and silly.” As president, Le Pen would almost have certainly have been the Putin puppet that Trump has not been. Then there is the cloud of anti-Semitism that hangs over Le Pen’s National Front. At the United States Holo- caust Memorial Museum Na- tional Days of Remembrance ceremony, Trump delivered a strong denunciation of Ho- locaust denial, declaring that “there are even those filled with such hate, total hate, that they want to erase the Holocaust from history. Those who deny the Holo- caust are an accomplice to this horrible evil.” One of those “accom- plices” is Le Pen’s father, who as leader of the National Front dismissed the gas chambers of the Holocaust as a “detail” of history and declared that the Nazi oc- cupation of France was “not particularly inhuman.” Ma- rine Le Pen called another anti-Semitic remark of his a mere “political gaffe” and distanced the party from her radioactive father in a cam- paign of what she called “dédiabolisation” (or “un-de- monizing”) to bring it into the political mainstream. But recent reminders of the National Front’s anti- Semitism almost certainly depressed her vote. After winning a spot in the pres- idential runoff in April, Le Pen handed the reins of the party to Jean-François Jalkh, her handpicked successor, who was then forced to step down days later when it emerged that he had praised a Holocaust denier and de- clared it was “impossible” for the Nazis to have used Zyklon B gas to kill Jews. Le Pen defended him and called the charges a “defamation.” And there was also Le Pen’s own “gaffe” when she declared that “I don’t think that France is responsible for the Vél d’Hiv” - the infamous 1942 roundup by French po- lice of 13,000 Paris Jews who were interned in a stadium near the Eiffel Tower before being deported to concentra- tion camps. The arrests were carried out not by Nazi occu- piers, but by the French them- selves. For Marine Le Pen to deny French complicity in this “detail” of the Holocaust suggests that the apple did not fall far from the tree. There is a big difference between American-style pop- ulism and the virulent strain that exists on the European continent. So it is a mis- take to read the French elec- tion as a rejection of Trump or his agenda. French voters did not cast their ballots for open borders and global su- pranationalism - rather, they rejected the National Front with all its racist baggage. This is why Le Pen’s de- feat is good news for Trump. His adversaries at home would have used Le Pen’s ascendance to tarnish him by association. She would have done more damage to his cause in the Élysée Palace than anything Ma- cron might do. In Le Pen’s defeat, Trump dodged a bullet. Quelle chance! Thiessen is a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush. French voters did not cast their ballots for open borders and global supranationalism – rather, they rejected the National Front with all its racist baggage. Le Pen’s defeat is good news for Trump PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS DAVID R. LEGGE AND VICKI L. LEGGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DAVID R. LEGGE EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 Conyers Welcomes Potential Articled Clerks at First Annual Open House Global offshore law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman was delighted to host members of the law student community at its first annual Articled Clerk Open House, held on Tuesday, April 25th. The well-attended event, themed “Conversations and Cocktails”, was designed to educate students and recent graduates about the Firm’s Articled Clerk program, for which applications are currently being reviewed. Partners, Associates, and current Articled Clerks, along with members of the Firm’s Human Resources department, were on hand to answer questions and share information about the program. Attendees were pleased with the opportunity to meet with Conyers representatives in a collegial setting, commenting that “This is a great way to discuss an important topic. I didn’t feel stressed out to be talking with a potential employer, I felt relaxed and they were very engaged”. Gene DaCosta, Partner and champion of the Articled Clerks program, said “Articling with Conyers offers students an exceptional opportunity to gain experience with an international firm. We’ve had great success in the past and were pleased to spend time speaking with the attendees to this year’s Open House”. Conyers’ Articled Clerk program was established in 2006 and is aimed at supporting Caymanians pursuing a legal career. Local chapter marks World Red Cross Day KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com While the Cayman Is- lands Red Cross stays active all year, May offers the orga- nization a chance to step up its activities and raise aware- ness. With World Red Cross Day on Monday, the local or- ganization joined chapters across the globe in recog- nizing more than 150 years of the international movement. CIRC director Jondo Malafa Obi said the chapter has a busy month ahead as it manages its four major vol- unteer-run programs. “We’re busy all year- round. When we’re not re- sponding to a disaster, we’re training for it,” she said. Beyond hurricane and di- saster response, she said, the local chapter also runs first aid and aquatic safety training, teaches child pro- tection and sexuality pro- grams, and operates a com- munity thrift shop. Ms. Obi said much of the work done by the CIRC fills service gaps in Cayman. Since no national mandate exists for lifeguards on Cay- man’s beaches, for example, she said water safety training aims to address the need. The courses at the Cayman Turtle Centre have even attracted international attention, in- cluding from first-aid groups in Bermuda interested in participating. “We have a resource ready to go if there is ever a law. The Red Cross is ready to step in with training,” Ms. Obi said. The organization also of- fers child protection training to promote proper handling of sexual abuse cases and to prevent abuse through back- ground checks. CIRC offers two free weekly training sessions through its Darkness to Light program on child sexual abuse. Organizations that complete the training and meet program requirements are eligible for a “seal of pro- tection” to show parents and students they comply with safety standards. With hurricane season ap- proaching, Ms. Obi said the organization will also be in- creasing its staff training ef- forts on shelter management and disaster response. “It’s important to re- member the Red Cross doesn’t just appear after a hurricane. It takes a lot of planning. We’re committed to professional training. That takes time and re- sources,” Ms. Obi said. “We were there in Ivan. We were there in Paloma, and we’ll be there again.” She encouraged the public to prepare a bag that can be easily accessed in the case of a hurricane or earthquake. She recommends the bag contain medication, flashlights, im- portant documents in water- proof bags, wet wipes, canned food, and toys for children. For those interested in volunteering with the Red Cross, she said the organiza- tion welcomes all skill sets. “Bring your skill. If your skill is painting, well, come paint with us. We’re open to all walks of life,” she said. The chapter is running a raffle until the end of month for two round-trip tickets to Miami on Cayman Airways and a two-night stay at the Miami International Airport Crown Plaza hotel. Tickets cost $5 and will be sold at lo- cations across Grand Cayman. Candidate vows wage boost with government funds MICHAEL KLEIN mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com Mervin Smith, indepen- dent candidate in West Bay North, plans to use govern- ment funds and a higher minimum wage to support Caymanians in industries that have seen stagnating or falling salaries. In the election debate in the district last Thursday, Mr. Smith identified declining or flat wages in the construc- tion and tourism sectors over the past decades as a main problem. The West Bay candi- date proposes a $10 min- imum wage in the con- struction sector “to stop the slide.” He also suggests a payment of $500 a month from the government for Caymanians in the tourism industry to counter the failure of salaries to keep up with inflation. Mr. Smith said his po- litical platform is based on dealing with the high cost of living and stagnating sal- aries, and providing oppor- tunities for ordinary Cay- manians, regardless of their educational background, so they can lead a middle-class life. He criticized the political leadership of the past, saying that Cayman has not moved forward. “Everyone must be given ample opportunity to succeed,” he said. From 1990 to 2015 the hourly annual salary in the tourism sector rose by less than 2 cents an hour, while in the construction in- dustry salaries declined, Mr. Smith claimed. Salaries had been de- pressed by the importation of cheap labor on work per- mits, he said, making jobs in the industries no longer at- tractive to Caymanians and leaving Caymanians working in these positions unable to buy property. “We are promoting a hotel tourism initiative where every Caymanian who is in the hotel-tourism industry, restaurants included, and not in a managerial or supervi- sory position, receives $500 from the government,” he said. “We need to find a way to make those salaries attrac- tive to some degree.” Mr. Smith estimated 800 to 1,000 jobs are going to be cre- ated over the next four to five years. “We want our people to go back into those jobs.” Bernie Bush, Cayman Democratic Party candidate, said servers and waiters earned $7 an hour in 1994, not including tips. When he was a general manager for Kentucky Fried Chicken, the lowest paid employee earned $4.25 an hour, he said. “In- flation has gone up so much since then. The merchant class kept bringing in cheap labor, driving the salaries down,” he said. The candidate said the current $6 an hour minimum wage has not helped. “We have to directly make legislation to make those people pay our people what they are worth and we have to stop driving down the wages by importing cheap labor,” Mr. Bush said. Independent candidate Sarah Orrett-Ebanks was also critical of the $6 min- imum wage, but questioned “what skills do people have?” Nearly every job, including bartending and waitressing, is computerized nowadays, and computer training is needed to enable Cayma- nians to command higher wages, she said. “As far as the $6 an hour is concerned, it’s a joke and it’s a slap in the face of the people of the Cayman Islands.” She highlighted the levies on utility bills as an indicator of the high cost of living. The minimum wage should be “no less than $12 an hour due to the fact that we live here. We do not send our money back home [via] Western Union.” Cayman Turtle Centre Asked whether govern- ment should continue its sub- sidy for the Cayman Turtle Centre, Mr. Bush said the subsidy would not have been necessary if the plans for cruise berthing in West Bay had not been stopped. Mr. Bush believes the tourist at- traction should be developed into “a real water park” and a cruise pier should be con- structed at the Turtle Centre. But government should not make the mistake of letting cruise lines fund the pier, control most of the business and pocket the profits. Instead, it was proposed that Caymanians’ pension funds should be invested into the project, rather than going overseas. Ms. Orrett-Ebanks said the Cayman Turtle Centre is part of Caymanian culture, but the subsidies have been a drain on government cof- fers. Still, the Turtle Centre should not be shut down and a cruise pier should be constructed in the best pos- sible location. Mr. Smith, however, is against the construction of a cruise dock in West Bay. He said the cruise compa- nies are already “squeezing our people.” A new cruise pier in the district would take 20 years to pay off and provide little benefit for the bus and taxi operators because “ev- erything would be so close.” In addition, properties in the area would be de- valued by a cruise dock, and the dive operators near the Turtle Centre would be im- pacted, he said. While Mr. Smith advocates more opportunities for ordi- nary Caymanians, Ms. Orrett- Ebanks highlighted the need for community development, especially school programs for kids and a community center for senior citizens, as the main reason for her can- didacy. Ms. Orrett-Ebanks said she has been involved in community work for years. Mr. Bush is running for his second consecutive term in the Legislative Assembly. He emphasized his com- munity credentials, saying he has been active in the dis- trict since 1979. With four years of political experi- ence, Mr. Bush said, he feels that he is well-rounded and has the contacts “to help the little man.” “We were there in Ivan. We were there in Paloma, and we’ll be there again.” JONDO MALAFA OBI, CIRC director Cayman Islands Red Cross volunteers learn about shelter management during a recent training session.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Community CALENDAR ■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR is published TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. It is available to charitable or nonprofit organizations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be faxed to 949-2662, brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Rd. or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS POLITICAL MEETINGS AND FORUMS TUESDAY, MAY 9 CHAMBER FORUM: George Town North candidates, 7-9 p.m. Arts and Recreation Centre, Camana Bay. EZZARD MILLER: North Side. Stepping Stones. 8 p.m. WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 NATIONAL DEBATE: Candidates from various districts at Arts and Recreation Centre, Camana Bay. 7-9 p.m. THURSDAY, MAY 11 CHAMBER FORUM: George Town Central candidates, 7-9 p.m. George Town Town Hall. TUESDAY, MAY 16 NATIONAL DEBATE: Candidates from various districts at Arts and Recreation Centre, Camana Bay. 7-9 p.m. ARDEN MCLEAN: East End. Pamela Dixon’s yard, Sea View Road. 8 p.m. EZZARD MILLER: North Side. Joyce Douglas’ yard. 8 p.m. WEDNESDAY, MAY 17 JOHANY (JAY) EBANKS: North Side. Rosita (Bina) Brown’s yard, Frank Sound. 7:30 p.m. THURSDAY, MAY 18 NATIONAL DEBATE: Candidates from various districts at Arts and Recreation Centre, Camana Bay. 7-9 p.m. TUESDAY, MAY 9 BRAC VOTER ID CARDS: May be obtained at District Administration Building, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. See May 19 listing for details. WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 VOTER ID CARDS: May be obtained at George Town Hospital, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. See May 19 listing for details. BOOKENDS CLUB: Books & Books, Camana Bay, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Members meet to review their latest pick, “Japanese Lover” by Isabel Allende. All are invited to share insights and impressions in an open discussion. The Bookends Club gathers on the second Wednesday of every month and new members are always welcome. THURSDAY, MAY 11 DCI CLOSING: The Department of Commerce and Investment in Grand Cayman, including its Business Licensing Counter on the first floor of the Government Administration Building, will close at 3 p.m. for a staff meeting. DCI’s main office will reopen tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., and the counter will reopen at 9 a.m. FRIDAY, MAY 12 VOTER ID CARDS: May be obtained at the East End Public Library, 3–6:30 p.m. See May 19 listing for details. BRAC CHILD MONTH: Game Night, Aston Rutty Centre, 7–9 p.m. POSTAL VOTING: The Elections Office reminds registered voters that they may request postal ballots or mobile voting until close of business today. People who will be away from Cayman on Election Day may request a postal ballot by filling out Form B, available on www.elections.ky, at portal. elections.ky/files/downloads/ forms/2016/FORMB.pdf. The completed form and proof of travel may be emailed to office@elections.ky. SATURDAY, MAY 13 VOTER ID CARDS: May be obtained at North Side Clinic, 9 a.m. to noon. See May 19 listing for details. LITTLE CAYMAN CHILD MONTH: Family Fun Day, Pirates point, 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. TRIPLE C 5K: All are invited to take part in Triple C School’s 75th Anniversary 5K walk/run, which starts and ends at the school. Adult/Child Registration, 6:30 a.m., walk/run starts 7 a.m. Little Sprinters, registration 7:30 a.m., walk at 8 a.m. Pre-register at the school office and on www.CaymanActive.com Fee is $20 for adults or $25 on day of event. Child/student fee, $15. Little Sprinters, $10. Free T-shirt while supplies last. Breakfast provided, random prizes. Contact the school office at 949-6022 or www.triplecschool.org. TEA PARTY: The Mothers Union of the St. George’s Anglican Church hosts its annual tea party, A Spring Affair from 3 p.m. in the Church Hall. Tickets are adults $10, children under 10, $5. There will be prizes, surprises and entertainment for the whole family. The event is in aid of community outreach projects hosted by the Mothers Union. Call or text 325-0318 for tickets. RUM TAILS: Dog show and demonstrations, organized by One Dog at a Time. 1–4 p.m. at the distillery on Bronze Road, next to Animal House in George Town. Entry forms for the show are available from Cayman Animal Hospital or at the event. The dog show begins at 2:30 p.m., with categories including best rescue, best costume, best trick and more. There will be rum tasting tours, hot food, cakes and drinks for purchase, and an agility course. Dog shampoo and conditioner treatment for $10. SUNDAY, MAY 14 MOTHER’S DAY: The West Bay Wesleyan Holiness Church will have its Annual Mother’s Day Service and Program at 10:30 a.m. All are invited. MONDAY, MAY 15 CEMETERY CLEAN-UP: Another clean-up and painting of graves/tombs in another section of the Boatswains Bay Cemetery is planned for 7 a.m. Paint will be provided, along with some rollers and brushes and rakes. Residents are invited to join in and bring paint brushes or rollers please if possible. For more information call 929-9932. THURSDAY, MAY 18 ARDYTH SMITH IN BLACK AND WHITE: The National Museum on Harbour Drive launches the Ardyth Smith exhibition. The event is free and open to the public. Miss Ardyth was an animal rights activist, community leader, historian, advocate for people’s rights and photographer. CHILD MONTH: Snuggle and Read. Cayman Academy School. 6–8 p.m. FRIDAY, MAY 19 VOTER ID CARDS: Today is the last day to collect the new voter registration cards. Cards may be collected from the Elections Office at the Smith Road Centre, 150 Smith Road, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. They replace all previously issued voter identification. To receive a card, voters must show a valid form of official identification, such as a driver’s license, passport or work ID. Contact 949-8047, office@elections.ky or www.elections.ky. BRAC CHILD MONTH: Family Dinner, Aston Rutty Centre, 7–9 p.m. CHILDREN’S LOGO: Young artists ages 4 to 18 are invited to enter the Department of Children and Family Services’ Logo Competition. Today is the deadline. Submissions should describe any of the following themes: building a protective environment for all children; preventing and responding to violence, mistreatment, neglect and abuse of children; Promoting children’s rights. All entries must be at least 8 1/2 x 11 inches but no larger than 11 x 17 inches. Logos can be hand-drawn or photos and illustrations combined. Entries must be dropped off at the DCFS office, 7 Genesis Close, by 5 p.m. dcfs@gov.ky or visit the DCFS Facebook page. SATURDAY, MAY 20 CHILD MONTH: Foster care recruitment drive, Grand old House, 6–8 p.m. TEEN MAZE: a Child Month activity at UCCI. 10 a.m. BRAC CHILD MONTH: Teen Disco, Youth centre. 7–10:30 p.m. SUNDAY, MAY 21 THE BUSINESS OF ART: Presentations and workshops that explore how artists and creatives can build a business around their talent, from initially developing a presence in the art world through to learning to sell your work directly to the public or finding suitable representation. 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Regular attendance, $35. Practicing artist, CI$25. Students over 15 years, free. Lunch and refreshments will be provided throughout. Booking is essential. Email events@nationalgallery.org.ky or call 945-8111. CIMA CHARITY 5K & 10K WALK/RUN: As part of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority’s 20th anniversary, the public is invited to the 5K & 10K Walk/Run, 6 a.m., starting at Elizabethan Square. Cost is $20 for adults, $10 for children under 12. Proceeds benefit the literacy and numeracy programs of various government primary schools. To register, or for more information, visit www.cima.ky. GENERAL INTEREST HIGH SCHOOL PTA: The John Gray High School PTA seeks sponsors, vendors and volunteers for its June 24 Summer Fair and Raffle. The PTA is raising funds to assist students traveling overseas to represent the school and country in events such as track & field, swimming, fine arts, academics and more. The PTA invites applications from visual and performing artists, food vendors and volunteers. Email ptajghs@gmail.com for registration forms. If you have a product that you would like to sell to student body and the wider public at the Summer Fair and Raffle, sign up. Booths are $50 and $75. MOBILE VOTING: Voters who will be in Cayman, but unable to physically attend the polls, may apply for mobile voting using Form C, available from www.elections.ky at www.portal.elections.ky/ files/downloads/forms/2016/ FORMC.pdf. Elections Office polling staff will either visit successful applicants in person, or facilitate their vote before polling day at an early voting station. CONTRACTORS REGISTRATION: The deadline for General and Civil Contractors to register with the Builders Board has been extended by a month. The deadline is now May 31, 2017. Registration deadlines for the other categories of contractors remain the same: Residential and Building Contractors, June 30, 2017; Trade Contractors, Aug. 31, 2017. ADULT ACTING CLASSES: Offered through the Cayman Drama Society. May 7, method acting. June 4, the actor’s voice. $40 per class. Contact training@cds.ky. LOST DOGS: The Department of Agriculture and veterinary students of St. Matthew’s University provide an online list of dogs housed at the Department of Agriculture Animal Rescue Shelter in Lower Valley. Anyone missing a dog can check www.smustudents.webs.com. HUMANE SOCIETY BOOK LOFT: North Sound Road. Open Monday 12:30-4 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 5:30-7:30 p.m. Volunteers needed for front desk a few hours per week. Email humanesocietybookloft@ candw.ky or call 946-8053. Donations of books, games, CDs, stationery, DVDs, cards etc., in good condition always needed. RED CROSS THRIFT SHOP: The Thrift Shop opening hours are Tuesday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Friday hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and closed evenings. Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Volunteers are needed. Tuesdays at the Truman Bodden Complex at 5:30 p.m. for track/field, football and bocce. No experience necessary, just a smile and patience. Wednesdays at Lions Pool 10:15–11 a.m. You do not have to swim, just be able to walk in water chest-deep. Thursdays at First Baptist Church for basketball, 5:30–7 p.m. Saturdays, volunteers needed for Adult Special Olympic swim conditioning at CIS pool 9:30–10:30 a.m. Deck support and in-water swimming assistance needed. For more information, contact Penny McDowall at 516-2578 or pjmcdowall@gmail.com. OPEN STUDIO: Every Thursday 10 a.m. till noon and every Monday 1-4 p.m. at Watler House Studio on grounds of Pedro Castle. Offered by Visual Arts Society to adults/youth who want to work independently in an inspiring atmosphere. Contact info@visualartcayman.com. COMMUNITY CHESS: Tuesdays 5-8 p.m., West Indies Wine Company. Join the Cayman Chess Club for a complimentary chess class and open challenges weekly. Anyone can learn to play and enjoy chess, even beginners. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.caymancompass.com/events.DISTRICT DAYS 7 District Days West Bay CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 PROUD OF THEM Ebanks recognized for sports accomplishments West Bay native Kaela Ebanks, one of this year’s Proud of Them award re- cipients, attends South Georgia State College on a partial sports scholarship while pursuing an associate degree in pre-allied health. Ms. Ebanks, 19, has always had a keen interest in sports. Her sporting career began in pri- mary school, where she led her team from Sir John A. Cumber Primary to victory at the inter-primary net- ball championships. Later she trav- eled to Kingston, Jamaica, to repre- sent John Gray High School in netball. She also participated in the school’s annual swimming gala and cross- country event. According to a press release, Ms. Ebanks’s passion is playing football. At 12, she became a member of the National U-17 Girls Football team, which was the first national team to qualify to participate in the CON- CACAF U-17 Championship in 2010. In 2012, she was called to the Na- tional U-20 team to begin preparing to represent the Cayman Islands in a World Cup qualifier game. Over the course of two years Ms. Ebanks showed great dedication to her training, which required her to travel for competition to various coun- tries in North America, Canada, South America and the Caribbean. In 2014, she was part of the national U-20 team, representing the Cayman Is- lands in FIFA’s U-20 Women’s World Cup CONCACAF qualifying final stage held in Grand Cayman. Ms. Ebanks’s success in sports earned her John Gray High School’s Female Sportsperson of the Year award in 2013. She has been par- ticipating in the local women’s league since 2010, and was Scholars FC Senior Women’s Team Captain. With her team, she qualified for the finals in the 2014 CIFA FA Cup Championships. While Ms. Ebanks has seen much success as an athlete, she now fo- cuses on helping other players. She recently passed the Cayman Islands Football Association’s referee course and completed FIFA’s beginners coaching course. The West Bay teenager uses her coaching skills to train players on Scholars FC’s U-15 girls team, as well as players in the CIFA/Maples Grass- roots program. A press release notes that her suc- cess in sports is even more impressive given her congenital disorder, which affected the development of her hands and feet. She underwent several recon- structive surgeries during her early childhood. Despite the early obstacles, “she has become a shining star on the football field and is sure to help other young players achieve great success,” the press release states. Twelve recipients of the annual National Youth Commission’s ini- tiative were presented with certifi- cates and $500 cash stipends by Min- ister of Community Affairs, Youth and Sports Osbourne Bodden at a cere- mony last month. Mr. Bodden noted that each recip- ient has distinguished himself or her- self as an individual to be looked to for further success. The 2017 Proud of them award re- cipients were chosen from more than 120 nominations. The faces and biog- raphies of the honorees will be fea- tured on “Proud of Them” billboards throughout Grand Cayman.Kaela Ebanks is one of this year’s Proud of Them honorees. 50 YEARS AGO: Hutchings wins Inter House sports contest In the May 10, 1967 edi- tion of the Caymanian Weekly, West Bay corre- spondent Leila Yates wrote: “Mrs. Shirley Garvin has returned from Jamaica. She went there for med- ical aid, but did not ob- tain much help. “Mrs. Elaine Jackson re- turned on the 6th after a short stay in Miami. Mr. Conroy Parchment ar- rived on the 7th from New York, where he resides with his family. “Departures have been Mr. and Mrs. Carliss Rivers who left on the 6th for the U.S. having perma- nent residence. “Mr. Cyril Parsons left on the 6th. “Mr. and Mrs. Kai- sley Welds became the parents of a daughter on the 6th weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces. “Mr. William Parchment left for his job on S.S. Corco, National Bulk Carriers, on the 1st after a long vaca- tion at home. Osley Ebanks left on the 6th for his job on Texaco Florida. “An Inter House Sports Contest was held at the Town Hall on the 4th, consisting of games in which the children en- joyed themselves. “The sides chosen were McDermot and Hutchings with the result that Hutch- ings were the winner. A sale of cakes, candy and dinner amounted to 18 pounds. “Anyone who would like to subscribe for Readers Digest, also renewals may subscribe through Kernel Hydes, West Bay. The Com- pany is offering cheaper rates to the West In- dies this year.” Fundraising under way for Nurse Leila’s home restoration Fundraising has begun in earnest for restoration of a West Bay home with an unassuming exterior which belies its historic sig- nificance to nursing in the Cayman Islands. “We are working closely with the West Bay District Committee to raise funds for the complete restoration of Nurse Leila’s House,” said the National Trust’s His- toric Programmes Manager Richard Mileham. “There are a couple of phases for this, from ini- tial repairs to full resto- ration, but our intention was to make this a major project in 2018.” As the Cayman Compass has reported, the home’s former occupant, Nurse Leila Yates, is known for her many accomplishments in the field of nursing. Erksie Leila Yates was born in West Bay on Aug. 19, 1899 to Caymanian parents, the youngest of six children. She grew up playing on the beach on moonlit nights and dancing to the impro- vised music of pans and graters. She remembers Hal- ley’s Comet lighting up the skies over the Cayman Is- lands in 1910 and beach- combing to collect sea fans for use as kitchen sieves. While her mother initially resisted her asthmatic child’s wish to become a nurse, Ms. Yates prevailed in her de- termination to pursue her chosen career, with support from her sister. She began her medical training under the supervision of Dr. Overton in 1917, walking from West Bay to George Town to attend her nursing lectures. She began her nursing career in 1919, caring for patients in their homes, and in 1921 branched out into midwifery. The Trust’s bi- ography notes she deliv- ered more than 1,000 ba- bies in the Cayman Islands, without a loss. Traveling on foot, boat, horseback and car to reach her patients, on one occasion she spent several days in East End waiting until the baby was ready to be delivered. Ms. Yates passed away on Aug. 19, 1996. For information on supporting the restoration efforts, contact the Trust at 749-1121 or email historic@nationaltrust.org.ky. Funds are being raised for the restoration of Nurse Leila’s house. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS also involved in the family business. For Ms. Basdeo, the family touch is as impor- tant as the vows. “My mother always told me, ‘Look, people come and they get married and it’s a very important day,’” she said. “Our job is to make them feel like family. We are re- ally in loco parentis. My hus- band, sometimes he escorts the bride in, sometimes he’s the ring-bearer, sometimes he holds the flowers. That’s what people appreciate. It’s a fantastic business and I con- sider myself extremely lucky.” Many of her ceremo- nies take place in her George Town office, which is on the waterfront and features a view of incoming cruise ships. Ms. Basdeo said she did just 77 weddings in 2007, the first year of her business, but that number has grown to nearly 300 services annu- ally over the last few years. The Dillard wedding was special, she said, because both of the bride’s parents are Caymanian and she was performing a service previ- ously written by her father. Mr. Jackson passed away in October, but Ms. Basdeo said reading his words makes her feel much closer to his spirit. “A good marriage must be created,” said Ms. Basdeo as part of the ceremony. “In the art of marriage, the little things are big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It’s remembering to say, ‘I love you’ at least once a day. It’s never going to sleep angry. It’s at no time taking the other for granted. The courtship shouldn’t end with the honeymoon; it should continue through all the years.” Ms. Basdeo, who will cel- ebrate her 45th anniversary this summer, said during the ceremony that marriage is “the most fulfilling rela- tionship one can have,” and she points fondly to her par- ents, who were married for 65 years before Mr. Jackson passed away. Like her par- ents, she loves that she has the opportunity to work every day with her husband, and she thinks her couples appreciate it too. “People feel comfortable talking to us,” she said. “We tell them if we have an ar- gument, ‘Look, we’ve been married 45 years. Sometimes that happens. You’re going to fight. And then you’re going to make up.’ But you know what the most important thing is? Spending time to- gether. Even though we had four kids, the most impor- tant thing is spending time together and looking after your marriage.” In her decade as a wed- ding officiant, Ms. Basdeo has brought together people from many countries and cul- tures. She said she has fre- quently performed secular ceremonies, but also those that fit the Muslim, Shinto, Buddhist and Hindu faiths, among others. Her most memorable ser- vice involved a wedding that almost did not happen. A few years ago, a bride came off the boat without her pro- spective husband. Hours passed before the groom ar- rived, and after the ceremony, he explained that he had just learned of his next mili- tary deployment. “He wasn’t expecting it and it threw him for a loop and he questioned whether he should be getting mar- ried,” she said. “Because as soon as he got back to the States, he was going to Af- ghanistan. That’s why he couldn’t get off the boat. But when he got on board, he got a phone and he called his fa- ther, and his father talked him through it until he was calm enough to come in and get married.” The Basdeos have three sons and a daughter and it’s Joy’s hope that some day her children will pick up the family business. At first, she did not know if working with her husband would work out, but over time, she said, it’s been a truly re- warding experience. “The first two months was hell on earth. I thought I would kill him,” she said of their working relation- ship. “But you know what? Whatever you’re good at, you do that. I say in the cer- emony: Lean on each oth- er’s strengths and forgive each other’s weaknesses. That is a very good lesson for marriage.” not received a proper pre- scription from their doctor. “All cannabis oil prod- ucts will require a prescrip- tion from a local physician in order to be filled at any pharmacy in the Cayman Islands,” he said. “The com- pany is planning to stock cannabis oil products at our pharmacy, but will also work with our suppliers to produce any specific for- mula a physician may re- quest.” He indicated im- porters did not encounter any difficulties bringing the product from Jamaica. CanniMed CEO Brent Zettl, however, said the ship- ping process from Canada to Cayman hit some bumps as the company worked out technical details with Ca- nadian and Caymanian au- thorities. “Cannabis oil isn’t really moved between coun- tries. It’s rare,” he said. “We think the next shipments will go a lot smoother be- cause we’ve now educated the two countries.” While medicinal can- nabis has been legal in Canada for 16 years, Mr. Zettl said exports are new territory for the industry. Mr. Zettl said 58 per- cent of the company’s me- dicinal product in Canada is used for pain management, 19 percent for neurolog- ical disorders, and 9 per- cent for cancer. He expected patients in Cayman to put the oils to similar use. Local cannabis advocate Dennie Warren said while he is pleased to see pharma- cies like the one at CTMH stocking the oils, he would like to see the islands access stronger oils, like Phoenix Tears, which can offer a concentration of 600 milli- grams of THC per milliliter. In contrast, CanniMed’s highest concentrated oil contains 18.3 milligrams per milliliter. “I’m happy to see that the professional pharmacy at CTMH is beginning to stock cannabis oils for the purposes of things like pain management, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease and so forth. But no one is yet stocking the oil needed to fight cancer,” he said. He said insurance com- panies like Cinico and Gen- erali include cannabis oils in their coverage, but that doctors have been hesitant to prescribe the product. Mr. Zettl said CanniMed hopes to address doctor fa- miliarity with cannabis in the future through local training efforts, currently in the planning phase. he was wet. She said Joshua had noted police “watching them from shore” before they had gotten out of the water. Several conchs were found in the Honda following the crash and it is believed the men were in the water taking conch before the accident. When contacted by phone Monday, Ms. McFarlane said she stood by the comments her son made that indicated officers had been watching the boy and the men he was with, and that she believed “every word my son said” re- garding what had happened before the fatal crash. Police Commissioner Derek Byrne lambasted the attack against his of- ficer in a statement released last Thursday. “I find this incident very troubling, where an officer is diligently going about his work to protect and serve the community, is a first re- sponder and witness to a tragic motor vehicle accident with multiple deaths, and in his own district where he lives and works, is targeted with the threat of violence and damage to his personal property,” Mr. Byrne said. “This is akin to an attack on Cayman society and the criminal justice system. This is reprehensible and every ef- fort will be brought to bear to locate and arrest those responsible.” Police have said the cause of the May 2 crash was speeding. The 26-year-old passenger, identified as Fitzroy Green of Jamaica, is still hospital- ized. According to police, he’s been moved out of the hos- pital’s critical care unit and his condition was said to be improving. Man arrested for police car vandalism Ian and Pamela Mansell - PHOTO: COURTESY OF FARNHAM HERALD/ ROTARY CLUB OF FARNHAM WEYSIDE Joshua McFarlane, 11, is recovering after the May 2 crash. Shanroy Delapena CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Joy Basdeo presides over 2,000th wedding CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “Everybody, everywhere I go, I’ve done their wedding. Or they say, ‘Your parents did my wedding.’” JOY BASDEO Canadian cannabis company begins exports to Cayman CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Ms. Basdeo fixes the groom’s bow tie shortly before the ceremony. - PHOTO: MAGGIE JACKSONThe islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY MAY 9, 2017 Gold and diamond tiara stolen German police say a gold-and-platinum tiara adorned with 367 diamonds has been stolen from a state museum. Police said Monday the theft of the tiara, valued at US$1.31 million, from the Badisches Landesmuesum in the city of Karlsruhe was discovered on April 29. Victorious Macron must quickly figure way to escape gridlock Winning the French presidential vote may have been the easy part for Em- manuel Macron. Now, the 39-year-old, who on Sunday defeated the far right National Front’s Marine Le Pen with a resounding 66 percent of the vote, has five weeks to turn his year-old En Marche! – or On the Move! – political movement into a ve- hicle capable of winning a majority or at least garnering enough seats in parliament to govern or form a coalition. Without that, Macron could find himself a figure- head from the get-go, in- capable of putting into ac- tion his campaign promises of economic modernization. That in turn might embolden populists who France has managed to keep at bay this time, but may not be able to again. The narrower margin of victory over the National Front compared with pre- vious elections shows that parties that see France’s cen- tral role in the European Union may not get many more chances. “Macron’s biggest chal- lenge now is to win the battle for parliament,” Dominique Reynie, politics professor at Sciences Po, said in an inter- view. “In the French system, if he doesn’t have a majority he’d have only limited power, he’d become a constitutional monarch. If he has his own majority, he’d have all the powers which the Fifth Re- public grants the president.” The French go back to the polls June 11 and 18 to elect their 577 members of parlia- ment. Although every recent French presidential election has been followed by the win- ner’s party going on to take control of parliament – nec- essary to name the Cabinet and pass laws – the outcome this time around has been made murky by Macron’s lack of an established base. “The idea since 1958 that whoever is elected president would have a governing ma- jority is about to be shat- tered,” said Nicolas Leb- ourg, a researcher in politics at the University of Mont- pellier. “Everything possible has happened so far in this election, and anything can happen. But it’s pretty certain that it will be difficult for En Marche! to win a majority.” Macron, whose political movement was created just a year ago, is trying to put to- gether his list of candidates for the legislative elections – a task he has complicated by pledging absolute gender parity and promising that half his candidates will come from outside political circles. “I don’t see a clear ma- jority emerging,” said Jerome Fourquet, head of the opinion department at pollsters Ifop. “We could be going toward an ungovernable situation. At best, En Marche! maybe could cobble together a work- able majority with a number of smaller centrist parties.” An Ipsos poll released Monday said that 61 percent of the French do not want Macron to win a majority in parliament, even if he was overwhelmingly elected. Much of Macron’s support in the second round came from people wanting to keep the nationalist Le Pen out of of- fice, rather than picking him for his program. Every French president since 1981 has come from the traditional parties – the Socialists or the center-right Gaullists, now renamed The Republicans. With the ouster of their candidates in the first round, they are in dis- array as they go into the leg- islative elections. The National Front has never done well in these elections, and the Commu- nist-based Jean-Luc Melen- chon, buoyed by his respect- able fourth-place showing in the first round, is pre- senting a full slate of can- didates through his France Unbowed party. “Forecasting the outcome of the June legislative elec- tion is almost impossible at this stage,” said Antonio Bar- roso, an analyst at Teneo In- telligence. Macron has in- sisted that he expects to win a majority, and ruled out any alliances ahead of the parlia- mentary elections. “The French are coherent,” he said in an interview May 3 with newspaper Le Depeche. “I don’t see why they would elect me and then weeks later vote against my project.” The last time a newly cre- ated party played a major role in a French legislative elec- tion was in 1958, when Gen- eral Charles De Gaulle came out of retirement after the Fourth Republic collapsed, partly because it had been plagued by unsteady parlia- ments. His Union for a New Republic won 189 out of the 466 seats, and even De Gaulle – routinely voted the greatest Frenchman of his century – had to cut deals with Chris- tian Democrats and Social- ists to govern. Despite his bravado, Ma- cron probably knows he will likely have to accept a coalition, and has dropped hints he’s willing, said Mont- pellier’s Lebourg. “That’s the idea of all his talk about taking the best people and ideas from both the left and the right,” Leb- ourg said. “The French people wouldn’t necessarily oppose a government of non-political technocrats.” The Socialist Party has in- dicated it’s interested in an al- liance with Macron, even if so far he has refused. “If there are 577 Macron candidates, 577 Socialist candidates, and 577 Melenchon candidates, then it’s simple: the Right wins,” So- cialist Party head Jean-Chris- tophe Cambadelis said April 26 on France 2 television. “We open our arms to all progres- sives willing to work together.” The Republicans are in- sisting they can win an out- right majority, and their campaign manager Fran- cois Baroin has said he’s willing to be prime minister should they win. “I am ready to lead the government,” Baroin said. “We are in France, with a two-round system designed to create strong majorities. We are not in Germany with their coalitions.” With all the forces that manifested themselves in the first round – handing extreme parties on the right and the left more than 40 percent of the vote – Macron may face an uphill task in forming a new government. © 2017, Bloomberg The French go back to the polls June 11 and 18 to elect their 577 members of parliament. Obama warned Trump about Flynn, former officials say WASHINGTON (AP) – Presi- dent Barack Obama warned Donald Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as national se- curity adviser during an Oval Office meeting after the 2016 election, according to three former Obama administra- tion officials. The information on Monday, from officials who requested anonymity in order to disclose the private con- versation, came hours before former acting Attorney Gen- eral Sally Yates was to testify to Congress about concerns she raised to the Trump ad- ministration about contacts between Flynn and Russia. The highly anticipated hearing – it is Yates’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since her firing – before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the presidential election is ex- pected to fill in basic details in the chain of events that led to Flynn’s ouster in the early weeks of the Trump admin- istration. Word that Obama directly warned Trump sug- gests that concern over Fly- nn’s possible appointment spread to the highest level of government months before the official’s departure. The February resigna- tion followed media reports that Flynn had discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition pe- riod, which was contrary to the public representations of the White House. Trump moved to distance himself from his former ad- viser’s troubles Monday, tweeting that it was the Obama administration that gave Flynn “the highest se- curity clearance” when he worked at the Pentagon. Trump made no mention of the fact that Flynn was fired by the Obama adminis- tration in 2014. In a second tweet, Trump said Yates should be asked under oath “if she knows how classified informa- tion got into the newspa- pers” soon after she raised concerns about Flynn with White House counsel Don McGahn on Jan. 26. Yates is expected to tes- tify that she warned Mc- Gahn that Flynn’s contacts – and the discrepancies be- tween what the White House said happened on the calls and what actually occurred – had left him in a compro- mised position, according to a person familiar with her expected statements. The person was not autho- rized to discuss the tes- timony by name and re- quested anonymity. White House officials have said publicly that Yates merely wanted to give them a “heads-up” about Flynn’s Russian contacts, but Yates is likely to testify that she expressed alarm to the White House about the incidents, according to the person. Trump has said he has no ties to Russia and is not aware of any involvement by his aides in Moscow’s inter- ference in the election. He has dismissed FBI and con- gressional investigations into his campaign’s possible ties to the election meddling as a “hoax” driven by Demo- crats bitter over losing the White House. He’s also ac- cused Obama officials of il- legally leaking classified in- formation about Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak. Also scheduled to tes- tify is former National In- telligence Director James Clapper, who attracted atten- tion for a March television interview in which he said that he had seen no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia at the time he left govern- ment in January. Repub- licans have seized on that statement as vindication for the Trump campaign, but in- vestigations are ongoing. President Trump said Yates should be asked under oath “if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers” soon after she raised concerns about Flynn with White House counsel Don McGahn on Jan. 26. Emmanuel Macron’s biggest challenge now is to win the battle for parliament, observers say. - PHOTO: BLOOMBERG/CHRISTOPHE MORINNext >