Independent of all but Allison

AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Anthony Vieira and I have been an Independent Senator since 2014.

I’m definitely from North Trinidad. I grew up in Maraval and Diego Martin.

I think you could say I come from a big family. I’m the eldest of nine children, seven boys, two girls. Yes, BC Pires, this evidently made my family Catholic. My significant other, Allison, is my rock. Since 1996, we have travelled all over the world together. My first wife wasn’t going anywhere if the nearest hairdresser was more than five miles away.

Both Allison and I had prior marriages, she for 18 years, I for seven. I had no children. Her sons, Brian and Drew are like my sons and Drew now has two sons. So I have two grandsons.

My father was very religious. He hoped one of his sons would become a priest but, because he was so into Catholicism, none of us were into going to church. Interestingly, we all settled down with Catholic people. I am very spiritual but my beliefs run along the lines of Daosim: forces in the universe, energy, working with the energy, karma. Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

It was quite interesting growing up with two streams of family, Portuguese and Chinese. I think we got a benefit from both. My dad was very Latin, very passionate, wore his heart on his sleeve. My mum is more Chinese, more in control of her passions.

Dr Gocking’s sixth form history class at CIC was transformative but I was railroaded into studying law, not history, by my parents and didn’t enjoy it at all. The deal was, after my LLB, I could do a post-graduate degree in international relations, which I loved. Lennox Ballah and Frank Barsotti told me, finish the law. And that’s the direction I took. Seeing my pupil master Michael De la Bastide in action made me kind of fall in love with the law.

I loved playing rugby from my teenaged years and my brother Bernard captained the national team for five years. All my brothers still play but I had to stop. It was kind of difficult going into court on Monday morning with black eyes and bruises. Also, the thought of getting injured and being unable to work when you work for yourself…

My brother Bernard and I were the first boys in CIC to pierce our ears. That added [to the heckling long-haired boys got in early 70s Trinidad]. Wha’ you doing with earrings on? It confused the Jamaican students at Cave Hill, too!

I do listen to some of the modern bands like Keen and Coldplay and that band that plays Sex on Fire [Kings of Leon], but the music of your teenaged years really stays with you. And I think the music I grew up on was really inspired. I’m still very much enamoured with the heavy metal bands. We didn’t hear rock music on Trinidad radio but friends at [English boarding schools] would come back with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath LPs.

The President appoints 16 senators [on] the advice of the Prime Minister, six [for] the Leader of the Opposition and nine in his own discretion. From outstanding persons [in] major fields of endeavour. President Anthony Carmona would have known me both privately and professionally before appointing me.

As a lawyer practising since 1983, I bring trial experience before the courts to the senate. The Independent bench in the Senate is not a team. We are all independent
of each other
. We don’t caucus. We don’t have a whip [like the Government and Opposition]; we have a co-ordinator. Each of us is a republic in our own right. All of us come bring our particular viewpoint and experience to bear in debates and on oversight committees.

The idea is to help enrich the lawmaking and oversight process, to explore the good and bad features of legislation and policy. Of late, people have been saying that the Independent senators have been siding with the government but that’s a misconception. Because the Bills that come before us come from government ministries and departments. You may get one or two Bills in a year with a political payoff but they are more the exception than the rule and those are scrutinised heavily.

The Independents make a very big difference when the Government is trying to get a special majority. Our nine can be critical. [Without] the support of the Independents, they can go under. Most joint select committees are chaired by independent senators. I chair the committee on state enterprises.

Being an Independent senator takes a lot of time. Contrary to popular opinion, we don’t get any set of money for it. My monthly [senatorial] salary is $13,060, travelling allowance $4,560. So you don’t take up that job for love of money. But for love of country. My Sundays are for Senate reading and research. Mondays I chair my committee. Tuesdays are Senate sittings. Sometimes on a Friday you have other select committees. That leaves you Wednesdays and Thursdays to do your own court preparation.

In a world where most people have to suck salt about what they say because they don’t want to offend anybody or lose their job, an Independent senator, is actually
required
to speak. And you do it without being hauled before the courts for defamation. That’s a very powerful privilege and honour and the best part of being a senator.

The hard part about being a senator is [figuring out] how to speak your mind without fear or favour but in a responsible and not reckless manner. You have to try to be diplomatic. You should not be attacking people or arguing ad hominem. You don’t want to come across like some kind of crazy when people read the records. It requires a certain amount of self-discipline.

When you see robots and automation coming in, it’s seriously going to affect employment, and not just [cashiers and so on]! Lawyers don’t think they’re going to be affected but there are already smart contracts. And machines that are going to make certain types of law practice irrelevant. We need to be re-booting our whole country, to see how we are going to reposition ourselves as a country when so many people are not going to have jobs!

Don’t get me wrong: there are other countries that have beautiful women. But our women are the most beautiful. Whether is black, Indian, white, your head is always spinning so and so and so.

We were brought from all these religious and ethnic streams and left to fend for ourselves on this rock. In most other countries, it would be war! We have got around that by making joke and by not taking ourselves [over] seriously. By liming. By that self-effacing ability to get along with any and everybody in the lime. So our fun-loving attitude is
not irresponsible. It’s what keeps us grounded and stable. Liming is our contribution to humanity and it’s what makes a Trini a Trini.

I’ve lived in London, Barbados and the BVI and I’ve travelled all over the world, from the Himalayas to Alaska. Seeing so much of the world has made me realise how very special Trinidad and Tobago is.

Read the full version of this feature on Friday evening at www.BCPires.com