 |
|
In 25 years of public service spanning three decades, he has been showered with top accolades and honours in the twin avocations of the law and politics.
Indeed, he has been acclaimed as one of the brightest Attorneys-General in the Caribbean, and the most successful in Barbados, certainly in terms of the welter of legislation for which he has been responsible, especially in his concentration civil law.
Still, every glittering coin must have its two sides, and for David Anthony Cathcart Simmons, B.C.H., Q.C. M.P., his life of prominent public service has had its share of victories and achievements, but also setbacks, defeats and disappointments.
Yesterday evening, in the presence of friends, colleagues and family, he told his constituents in St Thomas that he was calling it a day.
But we have not heard the last of this outstanding son. He is apparently poised to begin a new journey of public service, possibly at a higher level, but certainly away from the intense glare of the spotlight that he once so voraciously craved as a lawyer/politician.
We will await word of what new heights he wants to conquer.
A devoted family man whose marriage to student girl-friend Madame Justice Marie McCormack of Jamaica produced son Gavin and daughter Lynne-Marie, Simmons sacrificed much of his home life to secure his political growth.
The desire for public service, whether through mastery of the law, the justice system, or Parliament, came easily to him since he grew up in a family committed to the service of others.
His mother, Sybil, was attracted to the nursing profession from early, and his father, Kenneth, was an educator, perhaps best known for his association with the Dodds reformatory for boys in St Philip, with an earned reputation as a strict disciplinarian.
Simmons' early education prepared him for the intellectual rigours that were to come later; first, through the primary school system at Wesley Hall Boys' and St Philip's Boys', and then to The Lodge School.
Life at The Lodge, in the decades of the '50s and '60s, was a microcosm of the wider Barbadian society, stratified along clear lines of race and class, and undergirded by the worst aspects of British colonialism about which, to this day, Barbados remains in hypocritical denial.
What Simmons would later describe as the "unfairness and inequalities" of the society served to stimulate his social consciousness, and growing up within the Dodds complex also made him aware of the inequities of the justice system.
Born April 28, 1940, a birth date he shares with his political mentor Sir Grantley Adams, Simmons considered himself lucky to have known him and men such as his godfathers, Sir Hugh Springer and Dr Hugh Gordon Cummins.
Any early influences from such political stalwarts would have been moulded and refined as well at The Lodge School by the outstanding historian Sir Alexander (Fab) Hoyos, who passed away last Thursday at 89, but who would have influenced for the better Simmons and many generations of Lodge boys.
Simmons spent the entire decade of the 1960s in London. He studied at the revered London School of Economics (LSE), where he was an exact contemporary of Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, in preparation for a career in the law and politics, espousing the philosophy of democratic socialism.
From the Press to politics
It was there also that he began a lifelong interest in journalism as special correspondent for The Daily News and the then Barbados Rediffusion during the Independence Conference in 1966, sending daily reports to the newspaper and broadcasts each evening from the BBC.
On returning to Barbados in mid-1970s, Simmons immersed himself in the practice of law joining the chambers of Henry Forde, now Sir Henry, and also lectured part-time at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill.
In that climate, it seemed inevitable he would succumb to the urgings of colleagues such as H.B. (now Sir Harold) St John to enter the political fray, which he did in 1971 in St Philip North and lost to the Democratic Labour Party's Neville Maxwell, whose seat he would take five years later in a by-election after Speaker Maxwell had been declared bankrupt.
Defeat and success in five years, and then success again in the 1976 general elections, followed by defeat in the 1981 general elections, appeared to have stunned Simmons, who seemed to have expected much more and he became disillusioned with elective politics and was on the verge of quitting to concentrate on his law practice.
He had become one of the more successful attorneys and attained Queen's Counsel honours in 14 years, the shortest time on record locally.
The sudden death of Tom Adams in March 1985 rescued Simmons from an early retirement from politics.
He was appointed Attorney-General after winning the by-election in St Thomas, serving until the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was swept from power in 1986.
Simmons was one of the famous "three blind mice" (the others being Owen Arthur and Henry Forde) who served the BLP during its leanest years in the House 1986 to 1991 when the Democratic Labour Party held a 24-3 majority.
He returned to his legal practice but maintained his national prominence in politics and when the BLP was returned to power in 1994, resumed his position as Attorney-General.
His tenure over the last seven years has received mixed reviews, but it has been marked by the substantial number well over 200 of bills and resolutions taken to Parliament, covering the whole gamut of subject heads from law and order to intellectual property, to the financial and offshore sector, to environmental matters and social legislation.
In this second Arthur Administration, he's been one of the most visible and vocal Cabinet ministers some critics say too vocal with public assurances not always backed up by requisite action.
Controversies swirled around him, ranging from the promises to close the Mangrove Landfill in his constituency, and to hang murderers in Glendairy; over police conditions of work, rising crime and violence, along with increasing illegal drug activity, to repeated and spectacular jail-breaks, including that by the infamous Winston Hall.
By his own admission, Simmons has some skills in pleading and preparing and presenting cases, and, in the political arena, his ability as Attorney-General seemingly to make a case for every Government proposal, some of which have not materialised, led to derisory references by the Opposition to the "A-talky General".
Still, he has ably represented his party and Barbados as well as the Caribbean Community in international meetings and conferences.
Accomplished politician
Many recall his chairing a regional meeting that developed an 82-point Barbados Plan of Action against illicit narcotic drugs in 1996, and a Joint United States/Caribbean Committee to develop a regional plan of action on justice and security issues that was presented to President Bill Clinton here in May 1997.
Few would dispute that he brought a capacity for sustained hard work to public life along with a strong commitment to causes in which he believed.
He also brought a mature enthusiasm mixed with boyish excitement to the cut and thrust of political debate in Parliament.
He seemed to enjoy the barbs and the asides with as much relish as he did intellectual engagement and partisan argument.
Simmons' voluntary departure from active political life leaves more than a vacant seat on the front bench of Government.
A void has been created in the House of Assembly as one of its prodigies has walked through the exit gate, not risking the dreaded finger of the political umpire, or worse.
Not many men walk willingly away from the power of office and the privilege of authority.
Whatever temptations and challenges lie ahead, history will acknowledge that David Anthony Cathcart Simmons was no ordinary lawmaker, and no reluctant political combatant.
(Barbados Nation)