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The Freeholder Press continues today its Presidential Profiles by talking with Jacobi, Congressman for Nova Scotia and applicant to the nation's highest office.

The Freeholder Press: Thank you Jacobi for taking the time for this interview. Congressmen and Congress readers will know you as an activist member from Nova Scotia and many citizens would recognize you as the man that brought us televised newscasts. What do you see as the main strengths on your resume that qualify you for the role of President?

Jacobi: Obviously I see one of the most important tasks of a country leader as being open and approachable. I pride myself on being able to, in English and terrible French, go before the people of eCanada and give them the information they need. As a Congressman I'm well aware of the expectations that Congress has of a President, as a businessman I know the importance of a sound economy, as a media personality I know the importance of transparency. What I'm really hoping to bring to bring to the Presidency, and what I think my resume qualifies me for, is an open and inclusive style of government that we've been lacking.

FHP: Your platform is a populist, some would say an idealist, one. The theme often comes across as "renewal" and "moving forward", however you mention very little on how you propose to bring that change about and who will assist you in realizing that vision. The only person mentioned by name is Derakor who was once very much part of the establishment. Can you give the reading public more of a sense of what a Jacobi cabinet would look like? What would be the main strengths of said cabinet?

Jacobi: Well, you can view the cabinet here and as I have said, its important for someone like me, a boomer with less than four months experience, to surround myself with people who have the expertise to run a government as large as the eCanadian one. There is also a view with this cabinet that I wanted to choose experienced people who can represent a new leaf over the previous administration. We've got some familiar faces from the old government, but the vast majority are coming into government with fresh ideas and a fresh perspective. Its a great balance between experience and ideas.

FHP: The first plank of your platform is Foreign Policy. This is especially important to Canada right now as the whole of international power relationships are in flux. You say two things that are of particular interest, one is your idea of normalizing relations with countries like Italy, Portugal and Brazil, all three PEACE nations. Where you one of the members of Congress that advocated a pro-PEACE stance? What do you think Canada's official position should be on the matter of global alliances?

Jacobi: When the vote came up for PEACE, I voted PEACE. But its clear that the people of eCanada have said no to PEACE by overwhelming margins, more than 70% of Congress said no to PEACE, I think that's a pretty clear mandate! So under my administration, we will be focusing our efforts on making the Atlantic Alliance work and on strengthening our relationship with the United States. That being said, I will want to look for nations that have historical ties to eCanada, like Italy, like Portugal, and working with them one on one to end our wars with them and return to normal trading relations. There will be no deals with PEACE as an organization in my term as President.

Philosophically, I'm not a big fan of global alliances...they polarize the game into "us vs them" contests which I believe cause more difficulties and bad blood than they're worth. I prefer regional alliances and defensive alliances that protect its constituent members but don't necessary cause these world wars that stifle trade and make export licenses useless. It is important for Canada to belong to a strong and stable alliance, not necessarily important that that alliance bestride the world like a colossus.

FHP: Follow up question. You talk about Canada not being merely a satellite nation or a silent partner. You mention a desire for a more active military that has a real impact on the world stage. What real impact can Canadians truly expect when the fact of the matter is our military is minuscule by international standards? We are talking of just over a 100 active standing army versus the thousands of nations like Indonesia and Hungary.

Jacobi: Well, first of all the idea that our army is only 100 people is one that has to change. The crux of the military reforms I've proposed is to streamline and optimize the chain of command and supply system so that we can have an army of 200 people by the end of June. A larger CAF is essential for our ability to project the power that we have. Immediately we have the ability to shape the Atlantic Alliance in a way that benefits us. We also have the ability to say to countries like Brazil, who we recently declared peace with, that we want to have strong economic relations but that we can't abide takeovers in South Africa. The most important thing is to increase the size of the CAF, but close behind that is our willingness to stand up and be public about what we think is right.

FHP: Next let's talk about accountable government. This is a concept that should gain a lot of traction with most citizens. One idea that you bring forward that would be of great benefit is that of a budget. However, it has been stated in the past that the lack of a budget was not caused by lack of motivation but rather by the limitations imposed by the poor tools provided to track income and expenses at the national level (indeed at any level). Do you have specific ideas to get around this problem?

Jacobi: What is our fiscal situation on June 6. What are our monthly obligations and expenses. Lets answer both these questions, and put them to Congress. We are hamstringed by the lack of built in tracking, we may never know how much of our revenue comes from food sales or income from housing companies. However, we can track by date how much money is in our treasury and extrapolate that data to provide monthly budgets. We can with certainly look at the budgets from individual departments like the CAF and the Ministry of Industries. We can use tools to track profitability at the Ministry, we can keep track of miscellaneous expenses. These are not especially hard things to do but the benefits of having a clear picture of how we are doing economically and how much we can spend on x, y, and z would be invaluable to the administration and to Congress.

FHP: The present administration has taken giant strides in making politics more accessible to the population at large. The main result of this seems to be a proliferation of special interest groups pressuring the government as they can now see some decision affecting them realized in real time. Do you see this increased militancy as a future problem to the smooth running of government? As a business owner yourself, how will you insure there is no perception of conflict of interest?

Jacobi: I will say that it is more than likely that I will cede control of my companies to someone else for the duration of my Presidency, and obviously it would make sense to recuse myself from any discussion or vote on food or housing taxes. I'm more than happy to do that.

And, frankly, I'm happy that people are taking an interest in government and fighting for their interests. I want people to come to Congress and lobby their Congressman and be an active part of the political life of eCanada. There is nothing wrong with having a large group of motivated citizens. It keeps government accountable, it keeps Ministers sharp, and it certainly keeps me motivated to find solutions to issues at hand.

As long as people aren't trying to purchase access or results, or trying to extort access or results, we'll be the better for it.

FHP: Canada's economy stands as one of the most robust yet economies can always get stronger. What major concern do you have with our present tax system and what would be the first changes introduced by a Jacobi government? Would you provide or ecourage a consultative process before implementing those changes?

Jacobi: I believe in continuing a low tax policy, and I can't foresee many situations where i would want any VAT or Income tax higher than 10%. Of course, if our budget has us coming on a steep deficit, that may have to change.

Now, the general depression we've seen in food prices recently have been a great help to consumers but I know myself that businesses will struggle to continue to operate because of it. There are many sectors of our economy that are threatened by the cheap influx of foreign goods and when Canadian businesses are shuttered that makes it that much harder for players to get into the game and find a good job. I think that many eCanadians will find it a perfectly reasonable payoff to pay 50 cents more a day for their food in order to ensure a robust domestic economy.

As Prime Minister, I want business owners to be successful because I want them to continue to invest in our workers and our country's economy.

The current consultative process is somewhat of a two-fold system, and I think it works well. Business owners on the forums have access to the Minister of Finance about any concerns or issues in their respective industries, and Congress has a monthly tax discussion thread where they can be a voice for their constituents. I would continue that system if elected.

FHP: We would like clarification on one particular statement you made which is, "tax policy in Canada is based more on intuition than on sound numbers". Could you expand on that statement to better explain it to the public?

Jacobi: Tax policy is the government's best way to steer the economy in a profitable direction, but without a budget the changes we make to taxation have unknown effects on how we will be able to fund the programs we've committed to fund. Right now, whenever we change a tax, we're guessing what impact that's going to have on our ability to fund the government. Once we have a budget, we'll be able to gage what sort of breathing room we have for tax decreases in the future. Obviously I'm not a big fan of running huge surpluses that go into an account somewhere to collect dust or to be spent without Congressional approval.

FHP: Conservatively, how much room would you say there is in the Canadian budget to realize a lot of the improvements and reforms you are proposing?

Jacobi: I think we had a large surplus coming into the month of May, but because of tax decreases in the manufacturing sector that leeway has been more or less depleted. That we were running on fumes and unable to fund some programs on time this month is a good indication that we've hit the floor when it comes to taxes. My commitment is to present a budget to Congress by June 15 and when I do that, I'll be giving an overview to the media as well. When we get that budget and see how things stand, Congress and the Administration can plot out its next moves.

FHP: Thank you very much for your time in answering these questions, which we realize are not always easy. As in our previous interview we would like to give a chance at this time to make a statement or cover a topic not discuss above. Anything more you would like to say to Canada?

Jacobi: Thank you for taking the time to review my candidacy, thank you for the support I've received so far in this election, and I'm happy I've received this opportunity from my party, the Canadian Paradox Party, as well as the Canadian Social Democrats, the Democratic Action League and CHAOS to stand and fight for a more accountable government. 🙂

This concludes our interview with Congressman Jacobi, one of the presidential hopefuls this June 5th.

*The above was an article from a Member Paper of the Writers' Guild of Canada*