****A MESSAGE FROM THE SPEAKER: UPDATE! Congress says "No." to PEACE.****

Day 556, 17:37 Published in Canada Canada by vincent chaotic

Greetings eCanadians, allied nations, and global citizens. I am Vincent Chaotic, the current Speaker of the House of Commons within the Congress of eCanada. Let me state right off the bat that I have written this article in response to the massive panic which is now streaming through the international media and diplomatic world regarding the fate of eCanada’s diplomatic relations. A panic started by rumour and half-truths which threatens to turn itself into a full blown epidemic. I must remind you of a sermon preached by one Phillip Seymour Hoffman within the film “Doubt.”

[img]http://www.odt.co.nz/files/story/2009/01/philip_seymour_hoffman_as_father_flynn_in_doubt__1862491734.JPG[/img]

A woman was gossiping with a friend about a man she hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this - that night she had a dream. A great hand appeared over her and pointed down at her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She got the old parish priest, Father O’Rourke, and she told him the whole thing.

‘Is gossiping a sin?’ she asked the old man. ‘Was that the hand of God Almighty pointing a finger at me? Should I be asking your absolution? Father, tell me, have I done something wrong?’

‘Yes!’ Father O’Rourke answered her. ‘Yes, you ignorant, badly brought up female! You have borne false witness against your neighbour, you have played fast and loose with his reputation, and you should be heartily ashamed!’

So the woman said she was sorry and asked for forgiveness.

‘Not so fast!’ says O’Rourke. ‘I want you to go home, take a pillow up on your roof, cut it open with a knife, and return here to me!’

So the woman went home, took a pillow off her bed, a knife from the drawer, went up the fire escape to the roof, and stabbed the pillow. Then she went back to the old parish priest as instructed.

‘Did you gut the pillow with the knife?’ he says.

‘Yes, Father.’

‘And what was the result?’

‘Feathers,’ she said.

‘Feathers?’ he repeated.

‘Feathers everywhere, Father!’

‘Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out on the wind!’

‘Well,’ she said, ‘it can’t be done. I don’t know where they went. The wind took them all over.’

‘And that,’ said Father O’Rourke, ‘is GOSSIP!’




The rumour that has been spreading throughout the media, sewing doubt in the minds of eCanadians and our current allies, is that the Congress of eCanada is currently voting to join PEACE. At best, this rumour is merely a half-truth, released to sew panic amongst our citizens and destabilize our relations with other nations.

I am here to tell you the Truth, the Full Truth, and Nothing but the Truth. Yes, the issue of joining PEACE has been raised in congress over the past two months. HOWEVER, PEACE is only one of many options that was discussed within Congress about the future of ATLANTIS after the events of the 541st. Other serious options discussed include😛 Long term NEUTRALITY taken from the Irish example, Temporary Neutrality to observe the actions of our neighbours, the creation of a full-fledged defensive alliance with all non-PEACE states, reformation of ATLANTIS, and recently the Atlantic Alliance proposal. The April-May Congress was inhabited by a bloc of individuals who advocated for induction into PEACE, as does the current Congress. There was an equally large proportion of congressmen who advocated the maintenance of ATLANTIS, or a similar alliance. Yet another portion of Congress remained on the fence, believing it to be too early to make a decision. The debate became highly charged, as one bloc demanded an immediate vote on whether or not to join PEACE, while the other demanded more time to provide a suitable alternative.

I was faced with the unenviable task of standing between the Unstoppable Force and the Immovable Object in Congress, thus I offered what I thought to be the only true compromise. The vote I posted was on the matter of closure of the topic: a vote on whether to cease debate and vote on all viable options, which would last for the longest period in eCanadian history: 72 Hours. The April-May congress was given 24 Hours to vote on the topic, while the May-June Congress was given 24 Hours to review the arguments, and 24 hours to vote. The result being both congresses had the opportunity to review, voice their concerns, and vote on whether or not to keep waiting.

http://ecanada.forumotion.com/open-door-voting-f76/closure-on-atlantis-peace-debate-t2691.htm

This resulted in a complete statistical tie, which by the constitution it came down to President Bruck to decide the final vote. Bruck opted to end the debate and begin a vote.

At the time, three distinct possibilities were clearly favoured by the Congress:
- Neutrality
- Formation of a New Alliance.
- Entry into PEACE

But whereas the constitution sets out that bills can only come into law, and votes are only binding if they exceed the 50% threshold, I have called for two votes. The first vote offers the above three options as a possibility, requiring 21 votes in order to reach majority status, and thus become binding. IF NO OPTION CAN REACH 21 VOTES, A second vote would be held. The option with the least amount of votes would be dropped from the ballot, and the final two options would be debated against each other. This vote is still ongoing, but with the consent of Congress, President Bruck, and the Finance Ministry, both votes have been moved to the Open Door Congress section of the eCanadian forums.

The current vote can be seen here.
http://ecanada.forumotion.com/open-door-voting-f76/alliance-debate-t2796.htm

As you can see, with 34 out of 40 Congressmen voting, NO ONE OPTION CAN TAKE THE MAJORITY, thus a second vote MUST be held. If the vote share remains constant, then it will be the PEACE option that is removed from the ballot, as it remains the least popular option at the time of this posting. By the time the second vote is concluded, the May-June congress will have had 7 days, a full 25% of its term to debate, consult and vote on this issue, and provide the government with a full constitutionally ratified mandate to initiate the Foreign Policy option chosen.

However, that will not be the absolute, deciding vote. As Defence Minister and congressman John Wilkmot has tabled a motion to form a national referendum on the Alliance Debate following the proceedings. A motion which I myself have seconded.



Should the congressional mandate created by the Congress in this vote conflict with the Government’s stated foreign policy, then the President has the power to veto this legislation, which Congress could only overturn if it voted to do so by a margin of 60% (24 Votes).

The Congress and the Executive are also reviewing the current and previous discussion topics within the Closed Door Congress in order to declassify portions of the debate within the Open Door Discussion area of Congress.

FOR THOSE OF YOU TOO LAZY TO READ THIS ENTIRE THREAD!

HIGHLIGHTS!

- Congress is NOT voting to join PEACE. Congress is voting on what it wants the government to do: A) Declare Neutrality. 😎 Accept the invitation to join PEACE. Or C) forge a new Alliance.

- Congress WILL NOT DECIDE with this vote. An option requires 21 Votes to be binding, and the most popular proposal holds only 13 votes with 85% of the congress already voted.

- A SECOND VOTE will be held on the 31st of May, which will DROP THE LEAST POPULAR option from the ballot. At the time of this posting, the least popular option is to join PEACE.

- The government is in the process of declassifying the debates and votes on this issue so that the public may enlighten itself.

- We MAY see a public referendum on this issue regardless of the vote.

That is all

- Vincent Chaotic
NS Congressman
Speaker of the House of Commons



UPDATE

The First Ballot has now been complete, and as expected, no one option had enough support to become law. Thus a second ballot will begin tomorrow. Whereas the PEACE option recieved the lowest percentage and lowest number of votes in Congress, the PEACE option will be dropped from the ballot.

The second ballot will consist of the following options.

Option 1: Neutrality
Option 2: New Alliance

While the second ballot WILL be legally binding, a public referendum is still being considered before the government moves to act.

That is all

- Vincent Chaotic
Re-Elected Speaker of the House of Commons.
NS Congressman.