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I am running for Congress in Saskatchewan for the Canadian National Coalition. This will be my fourth time running for Congress and if successful my fourth term in Congress.

There are probably better places to run for Congress than Saskatchewan if you are only concerned with winning a seat. Now that Canada has regained its thirteen territories only two members will be elected from each region and fourteen members will be elected at large. Those members will most likely come from the provinces with larger populations such as Alberta, Ontario or Quebec. If I were simply concerned with getting elected I would run on one of those places. But first and foremost I am from Saskatchewan. In the real world I live in Saskatoon and always have. I devoutly hope that the Riders will beat Calgary on Sunday and then take the Grey Cup the following week. The nature of the game has forced me to spend most of my time outside of Saskatchewan but I feel the need to advocate for my real world home in this game. So I will be running for the part of this country that I truly love.

In my own opinion I have been a good if not spectacular member of Congress. Following the resignation of 2Roderick2 as Speaker my name was briefly put up as a possible replacement, something which I did not want for a variety of reasons including my desire to be able to express my own opinions on the issues of the day. (In truth that was probably third for me behind the fact that I thought the then Deputy Speaker was better suited to the job, and my own real world commitments.) I believe in offering suggestions and information rather than invective and anger. I like to think that my presence in Congress has made a contribution to that body. I have also served as General Secretary for the CNC, which for the most part has meant moderating the forums (and because we are such a civil bunch that has really meant archiving topics).

The end of the war in North America has meant something of a change in national priorities. We are being forced to confront a number of issues that weren't a priority while we were actively engaged on our own home ground. I have long been an advocate of protecting our domestic industries, in particular our raw materials industries. In the last term I introduced a bill to increase the Import Tax on Grain to protect Canadian producers from lower priced imported grain. During the debate on the increase of the Import Tax on Moving Tickets I used my experience in the industry to provided information to Congress. I don’t believe in using Import Taxes punitively, to exclude foreign goods, but to provide a level playing field for Canadian producers in our own markets.

On a related issue, I support a gradual, controlled devaluation of the Canadian currency relative to gold. At present the eCanadian Dollar is worth 0.033 gold. This means that it is tied with the eJapanese Yen as the second highest valued currency in the game, behind the eRussian Ruble. This makes sale in the Canadian market attractive to foreign companies while at the same time representing a considerable barrier to our own export trade. Wages are too high, for Canadian producers to sell our goods overseas and the price of the dollar exacerbates the situation. Reduction of wages is outside of the control of Congress and determined by self-control on the part of the employers and the pressures of the free-market. We have an abundance of every commodity except Iron and yet for Canadian producers an export license has very little value because our goods can’t be sold at competitive prices in the world market. I support a reduction in the value of the Canadian to the range of 0.027 to 0.028 gold.

Hospitals have long been a major concern of mine. I believe that we should have Hospitals in each of our regions. According to the Ministry of Industries Health Canada, produces a Q5 Hospital every month approximately. Now that the reserve hospital that was place in Ontario by President William Duncan has been replaced, the Ministry proposes to sell the next hospital produced on the international market to help with the proposed budget. It is a plan that I can reluctantly support, however I would like to offer a couple of suggestions to the Ministry in this matter and will push for them if re-elected. First I would like to see sales alternate between the international market and the domestic market. In other words, if the next hospital is made available for sale internationally, then the hospital that follows it should be placed in a Canadian province that currently does not have one; in other words, one for international sale and one for domestic use. Second, I would suggest to the Ministry that if, by the time the third Hospital is within a week of completion the second hospital has not sold on the international market at a fair market rate, then it be placed in a Canadian region. This would put a hospital in the eight provinces that have no hospital within 16 months at the longest. Remember that the biggest resource in eRepublik is not oil or diamonds, it is people. No matter where they are e-born people should at least have the prospect of adequate health care where they are living.

In Foreign Affairs I am pleased with the direction that our policy has taken. The peace treaty with France is controversial, but it is an interesting document. It does not affect our Mutual Protection Pacts in the least, meaning that should the French launch an attack on any of the nations with which we have an MPP, we will be at their side. While I believe in the need to maintain our international alliance structure and further isolate countries like Indonesia, Iran, Serbia and Hungary, I am extremely wary of William Duncan’s proposal for maintaining up to 15 MPPs per month in the aftermath of the increase in the cost of MPPs. It has the potential to be a ruinous expense.

With regards to the military, I am opposed to our nation being involved in wars of territorial expansion but strongly support efforts to restrict the territorial ambitions of others. The actions undertaken to prevent the Indonesian take-over of Malaysia were exemplary and made up for our failure to prevent the dismemberment of Slovakia. But the military is much more than battles. I do not support the concept of a privatized military as has been proposed by others, however I would be open to more innovative ideas in terms of supplying the CAF and its numerous platoons. One idea that might be worth considering is to try different ideas within platoons and divisions before rolling them out to the army as a whole.

Finally, no discussion of the past months in politics would be complete without mention of the Congressional relationship with President William Duncan. It can be described as “contentious” at best. A better description is found in a novelty song of the 1940s – Feudin’ Fussin’ and a-Fightin'. While it may seem to an outsider that the Congressional insistence on following form for no good reason, it is in fact a case of following, or trying to follow, the written laws of the country and as such it is our obligation to abide by them. The conflicted relationship between the President and Congress has, in my opinion, hurt the effectiveness of both branches of government. Things that should have been done as a matter of course, like a weekly printing of money, were just not done. It is in the interest of the country that Congress and the President work cooperatively rather than in opposition to each other.

In summation I want to go back to Congress because it is the place where I feel than I can do the most for the country. I ask for your support and your votes to continue the work that is constantly going on.