970819 Bermuda's "Anti-McDonald's" Law Signed
August 6, 1997
Bermuda Gov. Thorold Masefield has signed into law the Prohibited Restaurants Bill, the final step in banning U.S. fast food giant McDonald's Corp from the conservative British colony, officials said Wednesday.
The signing of the bill Monday ended a protracted battle by grassroots organizations and some legislators to stop former Premier Sir John Swan from opening a chain of McDonald's restaurants on the island.
The row was deemed partly responsible for the sudden resignation in March of Premier David Saul, though he had denied that he was privy to the decision of the ruling United Bermuda Party to grant Swan permission to open the chain.
The Prohibited Restaurants Bill survived a tempestuous 18 months of debate in the island's House of Assembly, revealing deep divisions within the UBP.
The bill bans fast-food restaurants, but does not name any chains specifically. There is one fast-food restaurant in Bermuda, a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet which opened in the 1970s. The government did not allow any further restaurants to open, however, until the Mcdonald's proposal which spurred the bill.
The bill was first rejected by the Senate and sent back to the House, which passed it a second time and returned it to the Senate. The Bermuda constitution barred the Senate from blocking the legislation a second time.
Swan will challenge the legality of the new law in the Supreme Court, sources close to the former premier said.
The governor, who had the bill for nearly a month, was doubtful that it was constitutional and withheld his approval until he had received legal advice, a political source said.
Masefield, as governor, is the representative of the British Crown on the wealthy, self-governing island, which has been a British colony since 1684. Bermuda, with an area of only 20.5 square miles, lies 570 miles southeast of North Carolina.
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