[Election Coverage] Questions for eCanada's CP Candidates

Day 1,810, 18:24 • Published in Canada Canada • by Mary Chan

Since eCanada (or more specifically, myself) is missing the analysis of political platforms and debates that have often sparked from CP elections in the past, I'm taking the initiative to create a Google docs/drive form to ask the CP candidates questions.

How it works:
1. Anyone may ask the candidates questions, gathered through this form: http://tinyurl.com/bnpd4fz
Pending questions can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/cp3fvqt
Everyone can view the submissions so citizens can avoid asking something that's already asked or redirect the question to another candidate, and candidates may prepare their answers before I PM them.

2. As I receive questions through the form, I will edit this article to include the questions, and PM the questions to the respective candidates requesting their answers.

3. This article will be updated as I receive answers from CP candidates (via in-game PM is most preferable).



Keep checking this article for more Q&A for eCanada's CP candidates!

Notes:
The quality and quantity of answers and platforms will be reliant on the quality and quantity of questions. It's up to YOU to ask more questions to get a more informed vote!
It will take some time for me to go back and forth checking the forms, asking questions, and updating the article, but I'll try my best to keep up with it.
If you have follow up questions or answers, please refrain from starting a debate via the comments. It would look best/cleanest if all responses were contained in this article.



Without further ado:
Let's grill the CP candidates! 😉


Q&A

Greatmoff asks all the candidates:
What do you think of Talon_Karrde the former and future CP of the eUk? Would you be willing to work to improve relations with the eUk knowing they had such a trustworthy, reasonable and distinguished fellow at the helm?

EP😨 I really like Talon. I've spoken with him on IRC several times and he is a cool guy as well as a very good leader. I would be very willing to work with him to improve relations with the UK. I know that, over time and with work, the eUK could become a trustworthy and valuable ally.

Rylde: I've known Talon karrde for over a year now. He's good Sh1t and I liek the guy. I'm not up to date with UK's current foreign relations but last time I was around they were still Polands butt boy.

Foxfire: He makes my articles look small and that's not easy to do. I respect anyone that is as involved with his country as Talon. Now while he may be an amazing guy and respect his own country, I'd have to have a good chat with him to discover what he thinks of or wants of Canada at this point in time. If our goal align then I would be willing to work with him.



Prince Lucavi asks all the candidates:
Without having a Congress, what will you do to keep the economy from receding and the Nation going into a small recession?

EP😨 Well, the most that the government can really do in relation to the economy is play with taxes and fund MU's. Taxes can't be fluctuated without the congress. This leaves MU funding as the only thing we can manage. What I would propose is a war bond system. Under this system, the MoF sells the 200 gold in its account on the Monetary Market. When people buy the gold, it would act as a donation to the MoF. A small amount of gold would be transferred to the player and the MoF would receive the player's currency. Hopefully we would be able to raise enough money for a decent MU Funding Transfer or two.

Rylde: Without a congress who gives a rats ass about the economy I plan on using my dictatorship to rule you all with an iron fist.

Foxfire: At this point in time the VAT should be at 20%. I'm not a supporter of high taxes but right now MUs are hurting with lack of funding. What little tax funding we do have needs to be maximized to assist our troops in regaining our country. The faster our country is retaken the faster industry regains all their bonuses. So although taxes may be high temporarily I believe industry would appreciate the returned bonuses more. Then once our provinces is whole again, the VAT should be dropped accordingly.
Going forward Income Tax should remain low. Keeping money in the pockets of Canadians is both good for player enjoyment and industry growth. Players who spend their salaries generate income for industry and are taxed by the government through the VAT.
Additional financial policies can be found here:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-cw-foxfire-platform-for-president-of-ecanada-part-2-2151148/1/20



Anon (Vacationing Smart@$$) asks ElPatoDiablo:
After resigning from Wally Cleaver's Cabinet over his move to affiliate with CoT countries, attacking Spoland for no apparent tangible benefits and losing eCanada its Congress, disregarding EDEN after your previous public hints that we would be alignig with them eventually and now deciding to join CoT, how can eCanada trust you to lead it in the international arena with no consistent or successful strategy shown thus far?

EP😨 If you re-read that article (http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/canada-deserves-better-2122632/1/20) The criticism was based on HOW he got the MPPs signed. My problem was that he was not explaining his reasoning and he was keeping Canada in the dark. As the Minister of Information, I would not stand for that and subsequently resigned.

I did drop several hints about joining EDEN. I pursued it, even though we couldn't join outright. This is because, while I do love strategy, I also value our friendships. I can see why people have emotional attachments towards other countries and have a high amount of patriotism in this game. I value our allies in Ireland, France, Portugal, Germany, etc. I also like the USA. Because of our long-term allies and friendships in the game, it is hard to join a different group.

Yet, I think it is time for a change in Canada. Canada has been tied to EDEN for a longer time than most alliances have been together. Back when we joined them in September 2009, PEACE GC was still alive... That's a long time. During this time, we have seen PEACE, Phoenix, Terra and ONE all fall away. Over time, nations have changed their allegiances. Even EDEN has re-shuffled the deck in terms of membership. After all, Argentina, Netherlands, Turkey, Portugal, France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia all used to be in Phoenix, an alliance who's purpose was mainly to oppose EDEN. Now they are all Pro-EDEN.

Other nations have switched back and forth over the course of eHistory. I see no reason why we cannot do the same. If elected, I WILL follow through on CoT. I will not go back.



Anon asks all the candidates:
What Previous Education Qualifications do you have for this job? 😁

EP😨 Like RL qualifications? Well, I am in college right now and interested in Political Science among other things. I can't even think of Education Qualifications for a leadership position in a simple game....

Rylde: My education qualifacations include knowing how to jerk off with my right and left hands. I also know when to pass out and call it a night before I get alcohol poisoning.

Foxfire: I don't know if there is a possible education that could prepare you for a simulated leadership position in a browser game, lol. I'd be sincerely interested in knowing if there was one. As for just my own education, I have an English major (Communications Degree) and an Economics major. Bits and pieces of a math minor, web diploma, etc. The day I pull out my diploma and wave it at my computer screen to successfully solve an eRepublik issue I'll let you know. It would be awesome if it worked that way now that I think about it...



Anon asks ElPatoDiablo, Rylde and Firefox:
Where do you stand on expanding Canada and making it a more powerful nation, and with the goal of expanding in mind, how do you believe that Canada could improve it's standing in the world?

Rylde: expanding ecanada is a job for the whole country not any one CP. The job is to big and its up to those who hate there RL friends enough to scam them into playing this game.

Foxfire: We first need to rebuild our economy and re-establish consistent funding for the MUs. Once we have a solid and secure power base, we can venture into matters of the eRepublik world.
As a foreign policy I strongly support re-aligning ourselves with EDEN and applying for membership at the end of November. To get back in the game EDEN is the doorway we need to pass through. Else we are just floundering from one blue sky foreign policy to the next. Testing the waters is no longer an option. It's time to jump in and swim for shore.
Additional foreign policies can be found here:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-cw-foxfire-platform-for-president-of-ecanada-ndash-part-3-2151359/1/20


TemujinBC asks Rylde:
Rylde, Do you forgive TemujinBC for all the hate of the past year? Would you be willing to work with him (and perhaps Indonesia) in order to further your goals? ~_^

Rylde: I didn;t realize there was hate left we did trade gold packs. If thats not erep love I don't know what is. As far as indonesia is concerned. Since our Nub prez deleted all our MPP's for like 1-2 erep missions a MPP with you could be possib;e.
But I am a Russia-Germany-France-Sweden-Portugal fan first.



Quimbie Muffins asks the candidates:
If Romney is Coke and Obama is Pepsi, which carbonated beverage company do you prefer?

EP😨 Ooo that's a tough one... I think right now, I'll have to choose Pepsi.

Rylde: I drink pepsi all the time right after ice tea. I also like to mix captain morgans with pepsi. Hell if its hard alcohol I've probably mixed it with pepsi one time or another

Foxfire: The company that gives me the greatest dividend returns.



Anon "asks"(?) the candidates:


EP😨 I think I'll reply with this random picture:


Foxfire:




Ardikus V2 asks EPD, Rylde and Foxfire:
Do you have any plans for a Ministry of Education? If Yes, what are they? If No, why not?

EP😨 I don't really have any specific plans for a department of Education. The closest, and best, thing we have seems to be the Boomers Academy. There the new players learn all kinds of thing about the game and leave the MU after they hit D2 to join the rest of us.

Rylde: Nothing planned at this time. This same question came up last election I was involved in and I'll say the same damn thing now that I did then. erep education comes from your political and MU affiliation. best way to learn is from those you associate with.

Foxfire: No plans. I believe all elected officials and those that seek office have a responsibility to act as mentors and helpers. We are supposed to be leaders and we should conduct ourselves accordingly. Given that there are typically 40 Congressmen, 1 President with a handful of ministers, and 20-30 potential candidates wanting to run for office in the wings, I'd rather have 70+ people verses just one person attempting to help 1,500+ active Canadians.



Anon asks the candidates:
Backstreet Boys or *NSync?

EP😨 Psh, NSync! Is that even a question?

Rylde: After this question I will no longer be taking anymore of your questions. Damn reject.

Foxfire: Thanks to the wife I've seen Backstreet Boys on three separate occasions. I am still married to her so I guess they aren't that bad.



Anon asks the candidates:
If we joined CoT or EDEN on trial membership for a month, what would need to happen to consider fully joining the alliance and what would discourage further partnership?

Rylde: I'm not intrested in CoT or EDEN at this time. Although I'm fine with some of the countries in EDEN

EP😨 In order to fully join CoT, we would have to complete a one month trial membership. During that time, the country would have to show its loyalty to the bloc. After one month, there would be a national referendum to approve our membership in CoT. Then the member nations of CoT would also have to unanimously approve our admission.
For EDEN, it is pretty much the same thing. We would have to vote on it and the other member nations would have to vote our inclusion. However, the trial period for EDEN is three months.
To discourage partnership? Well if we decided to go rogue and not support anything either alliance did, then that would be cause for not admitting us.

Foxfire: CoT would be such a disaster it would be hard to predict how that would fallout. The people of Canada would be asked to vote on membership after a one month trial at CoT. The kicker is the people of Canada already voted no to a CoT membership. So why we would even waste CoT's time and alienate EDEN is seriously messed up.
In roads have already been made into EDEN which would assist when voting time would come for membership. Per my posted Foreign policy it would be very advantageous to our membership application to back up our allies now, verses turn our backs on them.



Anon asks ElPatoDiablo, Rylde, and Foxfire:
Are you a forgiving person if someone admits their wrongs?

Foxfire: I believe forgiving is a process independent of another individual's actions. If someone admits a wrong that is a nice gesture, but in much the same way the wrong was made, it is up to the receiver to accept both the gesture and the wrong.
One of my favorite stories is of a wise man asking an older man who had cursed him for a week with insults, “If I offered you a gift and you refused it, whom would it belong too?” The old man pointed to wise man. “Then if I choose not to accept your anger, does it not remain your own?” said the wise man.
I think it surprises people that not all wrongs need to be accepted. I wish people could use this to not respond to trolls as much.



Lord Beorn and Beeman ask the candidates:
what do you think about the current 10% VAT on food and weapons? Do you think the VAT should be hiked back up to pay for MU funding?

Foxfire: I answered this in part already above. “At this point in time the VAT should be at 20%” for the precise reason of quickly returning funds back to MUs. I handle the funding for the Night's Watch and it is painful not to be able to dispense weapons to players who have fulfilled their quotas of fights.



Anon asks the candidates:
Do you like Mary's tits!

Foxfire: LMAO. I can't say that I am familiar with that particular subject, but if they are anything like her personality I am sure that they are splendid.


milestailsprower asks the candidates:
Princess Celestia is getting banned from the ballot, yes?

Foxfire: They aren't on the Clan Wolf's ballot, so they are banned in that regard.