"And that's why New Dorset must return to the principles of the free market and individual initiative that once gave us the title of 'Nonpareil of the Pacific' — and could do so again. Thank you all."
Nicole Tolley, MP for Portsmouth-Elgin, finishes her speech and steps down from the podium amid sustained applause. This is the third time she's been the featured speaker at the Portsmouth Business League dinner, held every year in early October, and her articulation of the principles of laissez-faire capitalism and how they apply in New Dorset have always gone over well. Portsmouth is the largest city and the commercial center of New Dorset, and the business community has always been the core of her political support.
After a few final words from the business league's president, Nicole and the other speakers step down from the stage and find their assigned seats. Nicole finds herself at a table with leaders of some of New Dorset's most prominent corporations. Her table includes the president of Salacia Foods (the smaller of New Dorset's two major seafood processing companies) and her homemaker husband; the CFO of the nation's largest accounting firm and his schoolteacher wife; and the general manager of the New Dorset subsidiary of Georgia Pacific and his husband, who is an academic on sabbatical from Clark Atlanta University. Nicole finds herself speaking with the one other person at the table who is here alone, Sir Shane Crandall. He is the founder and president of PELB Semiconductor, one of New Dorset's largest electronics firms. He is a portly man in his early forties, with dark hair and eyes and a sallow complexion.
"Sir Shane, I didn't know you attended these things," says Nicole. "I was under the impression you didn't have much interest in the league and its activities."
"Recent events, Ms. Tolley, have made it quite clear to me that my failure to engage with the rest of the business community has been a serious mistake, one I intend to remedy."
"Yes. I am sorry, Sir Shane, that we were unable to secure permission for the expansion of your facility. I'm sure it would have helped to work with other business leaders, but of course it was the federal government who made the decision."
"Surely the government wouldn't have stood against the business community, if we were united?"
Nicole shakes her head. "Too many of my fellow representatives simply don't understand, or don't care, that it is companies like yours that make it possible for New Dorset to afford the good schools that they were so touchy about. They don't understand that risk is a part of life, not just business — and government, too, should be willing to take risks, not put the brakes on successful companies like yours for the sake of so-called 'health and safety.'
"To be honest, even if we had rallied the entire business community — and I agree it's sad that it was not united behind you — it isn't likely to have made a difference. There are too many people in government who just don't get it. Too many who have never had to make a payroll, or even worked in business at all."
"Well, I do appreciate your support, even though we didn't succeed. It's going to cost us millions to find a new location, far enough from a school that even a hundred-year flood couldn't spread solvents or plating materials."
"And it's terrible that you're being interfered with that way. What we need is changes in Parliament, if we're to avoid this kind of thing in the future."
"I see. Perhaps you're right." He looks at her for a couple of seconds, taking her in, before the waitstaff come from the kitchen, bringing plates of food. "Perhaps we could discuss this further at another time? It's been a long time since lunch."
"Yes, I think we should talk further," says Nicole.
---
Nicole doesn't get another chance to speak to Sir Shane that evening; he ends up moving to another table and Nicole ends up talking mainly about fisheries and trade policy with the Salacia Foods president. She is surprised the next day when her assistant asks if she wants to take a meeting with Sir Shane. "Of course!" she says.
At 16:30 the following Tuesday, Sir Shane comes to the small suburban commercial building where Nicole takes constituency meetings, and and is shown to Nicole's private office. Nicole is self-conscious about the plastic office chairs and cheap fiberboard desks and bookshelves.
"Welcome, Sir Shane. I hope you're comfortable -- constituency offices aren't very plush. Would you like some tea, or a muffin?"
"No thank you, Ms. Tolley, I'm on a new food plan this week. And your office is fine with me — I pay enough in taxes without having to pay for government luxury. Thank you for seeing me."
"Of course. What did you want to discuss?"
"I've been thinking about what you said the other night. I have to admit I haven't given the political world much of my attention. As you probably know I came to New Dorset originally for university, so I never learned much beyond the basics about how politics works here. But the so-called workers protections and environmental regulations have always been there, interfering with how I built my business.
"But now I've started to realize just how big our nanny state has gotten. I'm greatly disturbed to see how often our governments overreach their proper responsibilities and impose unreasonable burdens of taxes and regulations on businesses like mine. I think it's time for me to shift my emphasis."
"New Dorset would benefit from your attention, I'm sure. When I've talked to most business leaders, they're too busy to spend much time on anything besides running their companies."
"Yes. Well... actually there are some changes afoot. I founded PELB nearly twenty years ago. Back then we pioneered new technologies; now we're just another group of factories. At this point, my chief operating officer is more than capable of running the place better than I can. I'm planning on handing over the presidency to her next month. I'll stay on as board chair, but that won't take much time.
"The other thing you might not know is that many years ago, PELB was involved in an intellectual property dispute with Handheld Digital. They used some of our patented techniques with gallium arsenide to build their first devices. We came to an amicable agreement — no cash, but 10% of their equity."
"Ten percent of Handheld?" She looks down at her cell phone, the latest Handheld model. "And they're having their IPO next month." Nicole had heard it would be worth billions.
"Right. PELB owns 10% of Handheld, and I own 51% of PELB. So once Handheld goes public, I'll have both time and very significant resources on my hands. I can't think of a better use for them than to turn New Dorset's politics back toward free enterprise —but to be honest I have no idea how to go about it. When I ask around to see who might be able to accomplish political change, your name always comes up. Can we work together to make this happen?"
Nicole can't believe an opportunity like this has fallen into her lap. "I'd be delighted, Sir Shane. Did you have something specific in mind?"
"That's just it — I don't even know where to begin. Should I be supporting candidates in the next election? I don't think we have political parties, maybe we should start one?"
Nicole wonders if ignorance this profound is general in the technology industry, or specific to Sir Shane's Canadian upbringing. "Well, political parties are illegal in New Dorset. They were eliminated in the late seventies, soon after Sexual Equity came in. The idea is that people should vote for the best individual, not the one who is part of their team. Of course that makes it very hard to use the vote to support particular policies.
"So each woman has to run on our own. Part of our problem is that people see free market policies as not compassionate, and not compatible with their stereotypes of women. A woman promoting free market policies comes off as somehow odd, less feminine."
"Like Margaret Thatcher."
"Exactly. She was successful in the UK because she was the head of a party, but here, where we don't have parties and the competing candidates are women who do conform to stereotypes by supporting the nanny state, it's much harder to attract support.
"That's only one of our challenges, of course. As it happens, I worked last year with Scott O'Donnell, a postdoc at Wilmot-Horton University, to put together a new strategic plan for promoting market policies in our country —let me see here." She stands up from her chair and scans through her bookshelves.
As she searches, Sir Shane looks her up and down — her body is slim but curvy; she has layered shoulder-length blonde hair; she is wearing bangle earrings, a silk top with lace accents, a floral mid-thigh length skirt, nude hose and heels. "I don't see how anyone could see you as anything but feminine."
She looks back at him, irked but resigned to his boorishness. "Well, that's the idea —I dress to compensate. But this is one disadvantage women supporting free market ideals face." She finds the binder she's looking for; she returns to her chair and opens it. "The strategy we came up with has several parts. First, a promotion and education campaign to improve the general public's view of free market policies. Second, a concerted effort within the House of Representatives to make market policies more acceptable. Third, a program to recruit a large contingent of pro-market candidates, and finally, support for those candidates in elections.
"We put together the plan, but our appeals to funders fell on deaf ears. Building an organization to execute all of these will take resources, and that's what we need if we're going to be successful. Sir Shane, if you're serious about making a difference, funding our plan will do it. It will require a significant commitment of funds to pay for the work."
Sir Shane looks suspicious. "Will you be expecting to receive some of those funds, Ms. Tolley?"
"Oh, no. Those funds will go to staff and to pay for research and materials. Even if I wanted to, I'm not allowed to take paid positions while I serve in the House of Representatives. I can serve in a volunteer capacity, to the extent I have time, and I would want to do that here. Of course, if the project makes donations to the campaigns of MPs, I'd expect to have mine considered on an equal basis."
Mollified, he says, "I see. Well, if things go as expected, after next month the funds to support the project will not be a problem. For my charity work, I have a solicitor who sets up foundations, and she can handle this too. But I will need the details of your plan for her to look over, and to be able to work with you on realizing it. I don't have the connections you have with people who know about this work, and you have a great reputation for making change in Parliament. Can I count on your help?"
