[James Wilson]

NAME/NOM: James Wilson      (Could I get my username changed to match, please)
PROVINCE: New Brunswick
RIDING/CIRCONSCRIPTION: Fundy Royal

PARTY INVOLVEMENT / PARTICIPATION DE PARTI:
Member of the Pirate Party of Canada since March, 2011. Participation on forum, general meetings and in R&I Committee only. Advocating party within riding and online.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE / L'EXPÉRIENCE POLITIQUE:
Attended nomination meeting and signed nomination papers for Wayne Steeves (PC) who I have had occasion to talk to from time to time. Served as a poll clerk for the 2011 federal election. Studied political science and Canadian studies at Mount Allison University.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST / CONFLITS D'INTÉRÊTS:
I do not believe I am a member of any organizations that would constitute a conflict of interest but in the interest of disclosure I will list them. I am a member of the New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives(http://www.pcnb.ca/), the Monarchist League of Canada(http://www.monarchist.ca/en/home), and the Albert County Historical Society(http://www.albertcountymuseum.ca/).

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT / PARTICIPATION DE LA COMMUNAUTÉ:
I have lived in this riding all my life. I have been employed at various service sector jobs so I recognize a lot of people by face, if not by name. There is palpable dislike of politicians in my local region and, I believe, in the rest of the riding. Doing a quick mental calculation I believe I could count on 6 maybe 7 people who would be willing/have the time to help me with my campaign at this time.

PLATFORM / MANIFESTE:
I support the general aims of the Pirate Party's platform but disagree slightly on some of the specifics. Platform is in point form and is subject to change. I am currently moving from limited consultation to wider consultation and have yet to add a small business section or policies to deal with the working poor (a suggestion from a constituent). Full platform document to be released near the start of 2015 campaign or earlier if I feel it is finished.                    

*Directly related to Core Platform*
-Legalisation of the creation, transmission, and possession of copied works for non-commercial purposes and shortening of copyright terms to 20 years.                                                                                              
-Treating the tampering with of email the same as tampering with regular mail.
-Make sure that government agencies collect the minimum amount of data to do their jobs and increase safeguards against personal information being leaked.
-Have all government agencies and crown corporations assume the desire for personal privacy in their dealings with the public rather than the opposite.
-Call for a comittee to be formed to look at the growing problem of identity theft to determine the best ways to combat it.                                                                                                  
-Shorten patent terms from 20 years to 10 years. (shorter for certain medical developments)                                                                                      
-Prohibiting Canadian Internet Service Providers from interfering with data transmission.  
-Offer a tax incentive for ISPs to extend their DSL lines within Canada.                                                                                            
-Make all government reports produced at a cost to tax payers available to everyone when they are published.
-Have MPs be required to keep detailed records of what they charge to their expense accounts and these records will be made available to the general public without undue delay.
-Streamline and reduce costs of Access to information process.                        

*Cutting Government Costs*
-A salary reduction of $57,731.00 for MPs.
-I also propose a salary reduction of $32,300.00 for senators. (brings both down to $100,000)                                                                                    
-Increase the minimum number of years an MP has to serve to qualify for a pension to 10 years and reduce the pension amount to $26,000.00.
-Bring public sector salaries more in line with private sector salaries.
-Move towards running government computers on Linux and other free software.

*Improved Representation*
-Make use of virtual townhalls, riding-limited online forums and traditional means to keep up to date with issues in my riding.
-Tax credit for voting in federal elections
-Internet voting (added to existing methods, not full replacement)
-Set qualifications for party participation in the televised debates

*Students*
-Extending the grace period for beginning to pay back federal student loans from 6 months to 2 years.
-Have all money paid towards federal student loans during grace period count double towards debt.
-The creation of a fund that would cover half the costs of field trips to provincial legislatures.

*Business Serving the Common Good*
-A system of conditional tax cuts (what some might call tax incentives) that would reward companies that take on socially responsible roles in Canada. These would not be new corporate tax cuts but would instead attach conditions to ones made over the last ten years(as of 2015).

*Consumer Protection*
-Outlawing programmed obsolescence.
-Push for standardization of printer cartridges and refillable versions.
-Oppose locking features on software that prevent its full use without a justifiable cause.

*Misc*
-Support for a statue of R.B. Bennett on Parliament Hill.
-Requiring all sentences handed down by the Human Rights Commission be examined by a qualified judge as to their constitutionality, fairness, and due process.
-Establish a parliamentary committee to examine the mandate of the Human Rights Commission to ensure it is clear and that the Commission does not take on duties best left to the Canadian justice system.
-Oppose adding a bilingual requirement to Supreme Court appointments

PLEASE REPLY WITH "SECONDED" TO SECOND THIS APPLICATION. YOU MAY ALSO ASK QUESTIONS OF THE APPLICANT IN THIS THREAD.

[Sean Hunt]

PLATFORM / MANIFESTE:
I support the general aims of the Pirate Party's platform but disagree slightly on some of the specifics. Platform is in point form and is subject to change. I am currently moving from limited consultation to wider consultation and have yet to add a small business section or policies to deal with the working poor (a suggestion from a constituent). Full platform document to be released near the start of 2015 campaign or earlier if I feel it is finished.

I wholeheartedly second this nomination as you have been and excellent contributor and I'd love to see you as a candidate.

I do have a few questions about the quoted paragraph, though. What points of the Party platform disagree with? Will you be able to set aside your disagreements with them to support the Party if necessary?

[James Wilson]

Thank you for the second, Sean

What points of the Party platform disagree with?

Truthfully, I actually started filling out this form about two months ago and at the time I would have liked copyright at 10 years and patent at 5. I have since rethought that stance. I appear to have missed that sentence on my final read through(which is why one should never be one's own editor    ). That being said there is always the possibility the party may adopt a policy over the next 4 years I don't personally agree with which brings me to the second question.

Will you be able to set aside your disagreements with them to support the Party if necessary?

Short answer: yes.  

Long answer: Depends. If (hypothetically) I were actually elected an MP and getting very strong signals from my constituents that a part of the core platform was unacceptable then no I would have to vote against it. I believe the first duty of an MP is to their riding. I don't see this being a problem as people I have talked to have either agreed that the core policies are good idea right away or after some discussion. If it were just my opinion vs. party policy I'm willing to go along with the party. The one issue I would probably go against the party on would be any attempt to reduce or remove the position of the monarch. But as the party does not want to weigh in on the crown's position in Canada the issue is rather mote.

[Shawn Vulliez]

Very happy to see this application, James.

Your suggestions beyond the core platform are great.

If you could expand upon your ideas in the "Improved Representation" section, I would like that because I'm particularly interested in them. I'm in agreement with your view and I am curious to hear more of your thoughts on those issues.

What is it about  R.B. Bennett that you appreciate? Why a statue of him specifically?

[Sean Hunt]

I have another question for you, while we're at it. Suppose you were elected, and then, when polling your constitutents, you found that most of them in fact disagreed with something you believe very strongly on. What would you do in this situation? Would your decision change if you felt you had access to more information or a better understanding of the situation than did your consituents?

[James Wilson]

If you could expand upon your ideas in the "Improved Representation" section, I would like that because I'm particularly interested in them. I'm in agreement with your view and I am curious to hear more of your thoughts on those issues.

The only other point I have to add to that section at the moment is a subset of the first point: That the riding association be kept active between elections researching, consulting and building the platform for the next election. The leader's report mentioned the financial benefits of having a riding association but I think it could have a bigger role in policy development. As I have not had the chance to even try and build a riding association(and won't until next summer) I didn't include it. You will get a chance to hear more from me on this as jfweiss and myself are going to be writing a report outlining some of these issues with the objective of making representative (consultative) democracy an official part of the platform. Which reminds me: when is the next Research & Innovation committee meeting? I haven't heard a word about the meetings in over a month.

What is it about  R.B. Bennett that you appreciate? Why a statue of him specifically?

Besides being New Brunswick's only PM Bennett is also perhaps our least appreciated PM. His accomplishments include the creation of the Bank of Canada, the forerunner of the CBC, and the wheatboard. He is also one of the first federal politicians to propose a national minimum wage, old age pensions, and the six day work week(down from seven). He was a rich man and a career politician back when those were not dirty words and he was not the one who dirtied them. He was brutally honest and would go against his party on matters of principle and good sense even if it would hurt his career. He worked 12 hour days, a feat few federal politicians try to match anymore. He was personally generous sending money to families across Canada and donating to many learning institutions. He ended Mackenzie King's shortsighted policy of balancing the federal budget while the provinces starved and led to a billion dollar deficit(1930's dollars) helping provide relief.  
He was a friend to labour but dealt harshly with communism. He opposed racism and saw the dangers of right-wing extremism at the same time Mackenzie King was swayed by Hitler's charm and convinced war was not likely. Furthermore, Bennett along with several other former PM's were supposed to have statues erected in the 1970's but the proposed models were in Deifenbaker's words,"ugly".

What would you do in this situation? Would your decision change if you felt you had access to more information or a better understanding of the situation than did your consituents?

I would probably present my case for whatever policy we disagreed on. But if after vigorous debate a large majority still opposed me on an issue I would vote my ridings will. The one exception is the issue I mentioned in a previous post which would result in me voting against my riding's wishes. As this would go against my view on how constituents are represented I would offer my resignation. If a majority voted to accept it I would resign my seat.

[Sovy Kurosei]

Wilson is a scholar and a gentleman on the forums and I second/third/fourth whatever his nomination.

[James Wilson]

Wilson is a scholar and a gentleman on the forums and I second/third/fourth whatever his nomination.

lol thanks Sovy. Although flattery will get you nowheres