Yes, that's right, I will be running again for Minster of Regional affairs. My major sticking points are clear. Mainly, I want to continue trend of Regional growth. I believe that with growth, creativity will continue to grow in this region. Secondly, I believe that the Minster of Regional Affairs must assist the C.I.A in locating potential leaks in intelligence. Finally, With a continued growth of the region, I believe that we all need to pitch in and help new nations feel welcome, but, the Minster of Regional Affairs should be the postion that opens the door to the region so that new nations feel welcome. Thank you all and good night. :lol:

Personally, I am quite surprised that Bweezy is entering the race. His arguement: there needs to be more public disclosure of discussions in Cabinet. However, by his own admission, he as Delegate of the region has failed to do so.

Personally, I do not agree with Bweezy on this issue. I do not see the value of how one Cabinet member voted or not can be of any use to the general population of the region. To me, what the public needs to know, is that, cabinet decided to take whatever action. No matter the descion, cabinet follows through apon them as a group. If a certain member of cabinet disagrees with the end result, they can express how they voted and why in any of the public forums.

I find it very interesting that one of my opponents believes that by allowing some sort of cabinet privacy, they think that the government wouldn't be open and accountable. Clearly, this isn't the case, I personally have stated my opinion which is, that cabinet should held responsible not just certain indviduals. Cabinet makes decisions As a group and thus, not one indvidual should be held accountable but rather, the entire group.

Personally, I find that it is quite hypocritcal of one of my opponents to pubically announce that he's was retiring from regional politics, then, two weeks later, decides at the last minute he wants to run for MRA. On top of that, he proposes changes which He failed to implement during his delagacy in office. I really don't understand this at all.

However, the issue being debated here, is how much of what goes on in cabinet the public needs to know about. I've said time and time again, I believe what only needs to be said is what conclusion cabinet reaches. Really, even though the election process elects individuals, once in cabinet, everything cabinet members do is as a group. If a cabinet member decides to announce how they voted on a certain issue, that should be there choice, it shouldn't be forced apon them.

Cabinet minsters should be free to vote how they think and not have to worry about how the general populus is going to react to how they vote. Otherwise, cabinet minsters won't vote for what they feel is the best for the region from a practical point of view, they will vote in terms of how it makes them look poltically. Susequently, misnsters may not always make the correct decision when voting in the cabinet.

Well, my previous record has been brought into question. Well, if we're going to play that game, let us look what I, Bweezy did in the last term:

1. Started consultations over establishing a constitution;
2. Encouraged people to join the off-site boards to discuss the constitution.
3. After consultation, finished a draft constitution, and put it to a referendum.
4. Was made Delegate.
5. The constitution was approved by a vote of 20-0.
6. I set up elections based on the constitution.
7. Canada's first government in 6 months was sworn in the first week of February, after the elections I set up took place.
8. Ejection guidelines were drafted by me.
9. The constitution was amended and adopted by a unanimous vote.
10. An intelligence dossier was set up by me. This was later tranformed into the modern day CIA by Carb.
11. A recruting drive was spearheaded by me, which, with the help of Carb and Checkers, increased the population of the region from 260 nations to 330.
12. The Boards were reorganized several times by myself to make them more user friendly.
13. A template for ambassadors to use when reporting to other nations was drafted by myself. It was then adopted by the English for their own use.
14. I intervened as conciliator in the Alberta crisis, and helped the region return to a peaceful state, in part due to the fact they adopted a modified version of our constitution.
15. I personally thanked every new region that came to Canada, and invited them to our offsite boards. THis strategy helped these boards hit all time highs in activity.
16. Consulted the region, through polls, about the proper way to cast my vote on UN resolutions.

Yes, in doing all of the above (and other stuff I failed to mention) I did fail to get around to making a law respecting proper disclosure of cabinet votes. After two weeks as a citizen, it became apparent to me that such a law is required, and that this role must be adopted by the new MRA.

True, I "retired' two weeks ago as Delegate, as I felt that the position ought to be injected with fresh blood. Seeing how my successor has handled the job, I have no regrets whatsoever in having stepped down and let Checkers take over as Delegate. She has achieved everyone of my high expectations of her, and I firmly believe the decision to let someone else be Delegate was the right one.

Also, I had NO INTENTION OF RUNNING this time around. However, I asked a question today so I could see which candidate I would vote for in the MRA race. I assumed that at least one candidate would have been in favour of cabinet openness.

It turns out, I was wrong. Neither candidate offered the vision of accountability and disclosure that I thought was necessary. So, knowing that i have a proven track record and ability to get things done, I did the only thing I could - I threw my hat in the ring.

Elected officials must be held to the highest standard. In a democracy, their actions must be made apparent to his or her constituents. Clear, open voting of elected officials is what Canadians deserve, and it is what I will work toward giving them.

Lastly, I have no problem with showing Canadians how I vote in Cabinet. My duty is to do what is best for the region. I have no problem making an unpopular voting choice, and explaining the reasons for my choice to the public.

Public accountabilty will only enhance our democracy. Why shroud the truth, when we can liberate it upon the public, and only enhance the public debate and include all Canadians in the decision making process?

It is the MRA's role to inform Canadians and to gauge public support for initiatives. Through honest, open consultation, I will be doing this job correctly, as mandated by the constitution.

If you, as a Canadian voter, feel that individual votes, or open disclsosure is not important, or is in fact counterproductive to democracy as SS states they are, then please vote for him.

Many believe that his school of thought is valid. My hats off to him for holding his ground and engaging in a public debate over the issue. if you believe in his fundamental premise of a more closed government being more productive for the region, please vote for him.

HOWEVER, if you believe that the time has come for a law and mechanism that guarantees you access to voting records, and weekly cabinet reports (at the very least), I encourage you to vote for me.

Once again, I must state that I regard SS to be an upstanding citizen and representative of this region. He has been a great asset to the region. He has an excellent record as an ambassador in a very tough region (the toughest assignment IMHO), was a great Deputy MRA, and has discharged his duties well as MRA in the last ten days. I would be comfortable in the knowledge that a man of integrity would have the position if he were elected. He is, and will continue to be, a great asset to this region.

Secondly, I have no trouble admitting that he is a man of conviction, and will stand up to ANYONE. If he believes that you are acting incorrectly, he will tell you to your face. I know this better than anyone. He has earned my eternal respect because of it. He is a man of principle and character.

Having said that, I don't agree with his vision of disclosure. I cannot accept it as the superior way, and hence, I have chosen to run against him to offer an alternative of openness and accountability to the people of Canada.

I encourage all Canadians to weigh the option, and choose the candidate who offers the vision of disclosure that they most agree with.

Whichever vision you choose, in the end, we all win - the issue will have been discussed, thought over, and an appropriate and reflective choice will have been made by the electorate. In the end, that's all I can ask for.

first, you argue that elected officals should be held to the highest standard, and I agree. Never, have I said that it should be otherwise. My arguement is simple, once in office everyone works as team and subsequently, if something does go wrong, it should be that everyone is accountable, not just one minster.

I am not implying either, that by not disclosing cabinet voting records will there be any sort of collective tyranny as Bweezy is implying. It will not be the end of individual thought as he implies either. All it will is allow for is less politics and and a greater focus on running the region as it should. Minster's shouldn't have to worry about what the public is always going to think after they vote.

Now, I have mantianed that what goes on in cabinet meetings doesn't need to be quoted, what the general population needs to know, is what action the cabinet is taking. I have stated time and time again, that we do not need to have cabinet members worrying about perception of how they vote. All they should worry about, is how cabinet as a whole is acting. That ladies and gentleman is my arguement.