National Senate Confirms Ambassador to Canada; Principal Advisor

Photo: Unsplash (Matt Wang). The new Ambassador to Canada is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, pictured here, rather than Ottawa.

The National Senate confirmed two key presidential appointments in a session yesterday, giving their approval to President Morbers' nominations of an Ambassador to Canada and of a Principal Advisor on Scientific & Environmental Policy and Strategy, a presidential office only created last Friday.

New Ambassador Close to Home

The new Ambassador Xavier P., is Soundland's first diplomatic representative in the Western Hemisphere. In a departure from other Soundlandian diplomatic missions, he will lead the Embassy to Canada not from the country's capital in Ottawa, but from Vancouver, British Columbia. He was initially appointed by Morber as Consul-General because of the distance from the seat of the Canadian government, but the National Senate refused to confirm him as anything less than ambassador last August.

They highlighted the importance of Vancouver lying within the Salish Sea so close to Soundland's home territory, and the critical role that establishing diplomatic operations in the PNW rather than Ottawa could play in promoting the Soundlandian interests across the nearby border. Promoting a sense of cross-border unity and camaraderie among residents of Cascadia, especially the Salish Sea, has been a key goal of Soundland since its founding in 2020.

President Morber and the National Senate insist that the decision should not be taken as any sort of dismissal or subversion of the Canadian Government, and that instead the move merely makes practical sense for Soundland. A diplomatic mission in Vancouver promises to spread out Soundland's influence at home from the central Puget Sound to the north, and perhaps introduce new Cascadian-Soundlandians, making the Republic of Soundland more truly Cascadian. In this way, despite being Soundland's representative to Canada, the ambassador is likely be more locally focused, working to build Soundland's relations, not just with any government, but with regular Canadians.

Presidential Adviser a First; Will Work On Science & Environment

The National Senate also confirmed the appointment of overseas citizen Zara R. as the long-worded "Principal Advisor to the President on Scientific & Environmental Policy and Strategy". The position within the presidential office was created by Morber's first ever formal executive order just last Friday, and is meant to "enhance and inform our nation’s scientific and environmental policy and capabilities". Zara is also the first overseas Soundlandian to take up government office not in the diplomatic service. She has a background studying environmental science, and will work to advise government policy as well as Soundland's response to the local impacts of the climate crisis.