So, I'm resigning the delegacy of England, but the good news is I'll be moving to Canada. You can read about it in various places:
Web page:
http://www.safalra.com/other/nationstates/...cy-resignation/England forum thread:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/England/index.php?showtopic=2024NationStates forum thread:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=513648 <Long post warning>
During my tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs, I was faced with the dilemma of having to review the status of our diplomatic relations with England giving special consideration to the fact that England was being severely afflicted with inactivity and had abandoned the democratic process.
This was done with a great emotional burden considering that England was one of the first regions, if not the very first region, Canada had exchanged embassies with. Although I can publicly admit today that, for me at first, it did not look very promising for England at the time.
Eventually Cabinet unanimously decided to maintain our relationship with England. A very important factor in this decision was the faith that England would soon be making a significant effort of rebuilding itself.
I looked back on the region a couple of times since then, and I verified that Safalra had led the charge of rebuilding England's democratic institutions and increasing regional population.
Elections were held, regional forum activity went up and England's population grew (today ranked 19th overall) despite consistent drops in overall NS population that occurred during this period.
This was one of the most notorious achievements I've personally witnessed in my (still relatively young) NationStates experience.
Reading this resignation speech I'm struck with conflicted feelings.
Having been personally involved as a Canadian Minister, with part of the English history you've described, it now pains me to see that all was not as it seemed and that deplorable behind the scene antics have undermined the effort of many members in building a better region.
On the other hand, it is with great satisfaction and why not... pride, that I see a nation of such admirable talents such as Safalra, choosing our region to reside in.
Make yourself at home Safalra. :)
p.s. An important conclusion that I feel the need to express at this time, is that we Canadians mustn't get too "cocky", for lack of a better word.
Sure we understand our value and what we've achieved.
Sure, we're one of the most populated regions (without using mass puppets mind you) and the largest userite-founderless region in NS.
Sure we know we've got a good thing going and we're a bit conceited about it.
More important than any of this is the fact that we must be able to acknowledge the need for improvement. Off the top of my head here... I have always envied Equilism's (Equilism prior to the recent Imperial phase) judicial process.
I am more than happy to have someone of your ilk moving into our fine Region.
If there is anything at all that I can do to help ease the transition of differences in Regions for you, please feel free to ask.
Salfalra, this comes a quite a bit of a shock (British understament).
I've been keeping up with the discussion on the England forum and it seems as if this is as just a surprise to everyone.
I echo 420 in that you will be more than welcome in Canada and that (from the England forum), 'I look forward to a committed and pro-democracy NationStates player as well as active NationStates United Nations contributor joining us,' and that if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
