Join the new world

I am running for Congress as a Canadian National Coalition candidate in Saskatchewan. This will be my third run for Congress. I was elected from Prince Edward Island on both previous occasions, but both times I made no secret of the fact that if and when the opportunity came that I would prefer to run in my real life home of Saskatchewan. I’m from Saskatoon in the Real World, and as people from Saskatchewan know, my in-game name comes from my alma mater the University of Saskatchewan and our team name, the Huskies. I cheer for the Blades, the Huskies, and the Hilltops, and of course I live and die by the Riders.

I like to think that I have been a good, if not particularly spectacular member of Congress. What I bring to the table as your prospective Congressman is my experience and my willingness to do the necessary work. I’m not just in this for the experience points. It is my sincere wish at the start of each Congressional term for Canada to be a better country at the end of that term than it was at the start. So far I think that I’ve helped to accomplish that in my own small way and with help of you, the voters of Saskatchewan, I hope to keep making that happen.

I’d like to tell you a little of what goes on in Congress, in a general way because some of the things we deal with are of necessity kept secret. The first thing I have to say to anyone even considering a run for congress is that if you’re going to do it you had better be willing to spend time doing the job. Go to the Congressional forums. If you have an opinion on an issue do not be afraid to express it. Contribute to the conversation but be ready to defend your statements and have reasons for saying what you say. Present a good argument for your point of view and others may not agree with you but at least they won’t be able to get away with saying “that’s the dumbest thing that I’ve ever heard.” I guess the biggest thing that I have to say to prospective members of Congress is a line from a TV theme song from my youth – Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. In my two terms in Congress I’ve lived up to that.

One of my big issues has always been Hospitals. I was “born” in this game in Saskatchewan before the start of the war. At that time we only had a Q1 hospital here. A Q1 hospital is worse than useless – it’s enough to give you a taste of fighting but gives you no way to improve your health or to improve your fighting ability. I believe that every region should eventually have a Q4 or Q5 Hospital. Note that word “eventually” because this will be a long process. We’ve made progress on this. Five of the eleven liberated regions have a Q4 or Q5 hospital, and while I didn’t like the haste with which the Ontario hospital was placed I was fully in support of placing a hospital there. There are those who don’t support more hospitals. They believe that as an eNation we should hole up in a fortress like Alberta and that anyone who doesn’t move there isn’t playing the game “right” or is disdainfully dismissed as a “two-clicker.” It’s a point of view, but I think they’re wrong. If you look at the “great powers” in this game – Hungary, Sweden, Croatia, Romania, Iran, and others – you’ll see one common feature; high quality hospitals in all of their national regions. Not one of the eUK’s twelve regions has anything less than a Q3 hospital. A “baby boom” doesn’t help too much if the “babies” – the new players – don’t stick around and don’t stay interested in the game. A big part of staying interested is fighting in the battles and being told that you have to move to another region if you want to fight, and that you’re not playing “right” if you don’t is bound to be discouraging. High quality hospitals help to maintain and expand populations and thus national strength by keeping players in the game. Building up our population helps in every way; military, industrial and social, and we need to do everything in our power to not only get new citizens but to keep them. Someone once commented that this is a game about resources and that we should locate hospitals to protect resources by providing an incentive for people to relocate. That ignores one fact – people are the most important resource in this game and hospitals are the way that people change in quality.

Like every Canadian I am fully in support of restoring all of the conquered regions of Canada. I support the military – I’m a proud Reservist – and I applaud the Duncan administration’s efforts at strengthening our alliances. We’ve made huge strides in improving the organization of our military and in getting supplies to those who need them, including the reserves. More needs to be done and a number of ideas are under consideration. I want to be part of that.

When it comes to industry, I am a protectionist but a realist. As Canadian industry improves and grows stronger we are going to need to increase our import tax barriers in the face of international competition. However this can’t be done too hastily. We are nowhere near the position of some European countries – such as Hungary – where they have a 99% Import Tax pretty much across the board. Some foreign competition is necessary to keep our companies sharp. In other areas, particularly in raw materials import barriers need to be kept low because we simply do not produce the quality or quantity of those goods that the manufacturing sector needs. We need to have companies that produce these materials available in case our foreign supplies are cut off, but protecting them to the same degree that we would protect a sector where we have an abundance of resources would be a grievous mistake.

Congress is about the dream of the possible, the business of the deal and the art of compromise. Most of all it is about doing what you sincerely believe is the right thing for the country. In my time in Congress I’ve learned these qualities. More to the point I’ve seen enough others who didn’t understand this crash and burn. Canada needs experience in Congress and after two terms I believe I can supply some of that experience.