Jeremy Cannon

The Right Honourable Sir Jeremy Cannon, GCRI, MBE, QC, MP

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Position	Leader Of Green Party
Term	13 July 2007–Present
Party Affiliation	Green Party
Born	10 March 1959: Haphonia, Ibagli

The Right Honourable Sir Jeremy Cannon, GCRI, MBE, QC, MP (born 10 March 1959) is the leader of the Green Party. He is a former puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Ibagli. From January to October 2006 he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Roger Pollack.

Early Life

Cannon was born on 10 March 1959 to Jeffrey Cannon and Rebecca Gore in Loygre. He attended a local state school and Thistledowne University, obtaining a degree in Law and minoring in French. Cannon always reflected favorably on his upbringing and childhood: "I was brought up in a warm and caring house devoid of any real rules." He later credited his family's hands-off approach toward his adolescence as "what allowed me become the person I am today."

Liberal Party

After a stint as a French-English translator for the government, Cannon was elected to his first seat in the House Of Commons in 1982. He worked feverishly and became known as easily one of the most liberal members of the House. He constantly had verbal altercations with well-known and respected conservative leaders and became very well liked within the party. He fought through many Ibaglian crises with a lot of dignity and a strong, firm belief in his party. Cannon never lost reelection in his district and remained in the House of Commons from 1982 until he stepped down in 2001. His resignation was accepted in early 2001 and he left for Palterma, an island in desperate need of leadership.

Palterma

Cannon was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Palterma in 2001. In his time in the Legislative Assembly, he would become the most outspoken and polarized member of the Assembly. He butted heads with the Conservatives, but because of a more relaxed environment, Cannon had his most volatile moments. Cannon screamed an obscenity towards a conservative member of the Assembly, when told he was out of line, he replied "I think you think I care." He gained popularity as one of the more "real" members and he would serve as the Premier of the island in 2003. Cannon was well-liked and received in Palterma as the Premier. Unfortunately, the nation would struggle desperately with terrorism and an eventual semi-invasion by communist separatists. Cannon turned the island over to Ibagli in 2004 and returned to run for a spot in the House Of Commons again.

Return To The Liberal Party

In 2004, Cannon returned to Ibagli and was elected into the House of Commons again as a Liberal. He used his popularity within the party and his growing popularity with the younger liberals to rise to a very respected member of the party. He began an assault on military spending, which put him at odds with some members of every party. He called for the resignation of Anthony Kinder in 2005, a person he regarded as "corrupt and fake". After the election in 2006 he became the Minister of Foreign Affairs, under Roger Pollack. He was met with mixed reviews during his 9 month tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Critics leveled that he was not as hands-on as his predecessors and seemed to do "basically nothing" in the words of an anonymous conservative. Supporters note that Ibagli seemed to become better known around the world, saying Cannon, "represented Ibagli with much grace and style."

Cannon resigned from the House Of Commons in October, 2006, to work with the Supreme Court. He stated later that he had become "slightly displeased" with the higher-ups in the Liberal Party. (See controversy.)

Justice Of The Supreme Court

In 2006, Cannon became the youngest Justice of the Supreme Court in the history of Ibagli.

He was widely considered the most liberal member of the Court during his tenure.

Cannon led the charge to convict numerous officials for their role in the 2006 Coup. In March 2007, all members of the coup that were arrested were convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison. Steven Lyall was pardoned shortly afterward. Lyall had been supportive and it had been proven he was not the real leader of the coup. Cannon supported the pardon.

On March 25, 2007, Cannon cast the tie-breaking 4-3 vote in favor of dismantling the Burlington Cross in the controversial "Cross Case". The Town of Burlington decided a few hours later it would not comply with the order. The cross was removed under order of the Supreme Court due to the mental anguish it was deemed capable of causing the citizens. Members of the Conservative majority were opposed to the action, it is unknown if charges will be brought against the court.

On July 13th, 2007, Cannon ended his almost one year tenure on the Supreme Court. He was invited to lead the Green Party and "couldn't resist the oppurtunity to work with an up-and-coming political party that holds many of my beliefs." In an occasionally emotional speech, Cannon thanked "all his colleages on the Court, it was a pleasure to work with all of you."

Green Party

On July 13th, after Cannon resigned the Supreme Court, he immeadiately drove to the Green Party headquarters to accept the leadership position of the party. He had intended on doing so, though he stated: "I was pretty conflicted about leaving, the Green Party contacted me about it around the beginning of the month and I declined. I called back a couple days later and accepted. I want to lead a party into the future. What the Conservatives do to this country is absolutely sad. I'm looking to give Ibaglians a third possibility."

Cannon has shown great interest in working with the Liberal Party, in which he spent a large amount of his time in politics before. He also said he supported bring Steven Lyall back to the party. Lyall is known for his role in making the Green Party legitimate, but also a failed coup attempt. Cannon lead the investigation and eventually, Lyall was pardoned. The two are reportedly good friends. On the same day, he supported trying to get Péricles Maranhão Neto to run as a Green as well.

Cannon stopped short of saying he would mend fences with Conservative opponents he has gained over the years, stating: "I'm not here to make friends."

Political Beliefs

• Very Liberal with some individualist beliefs.
• Supports same-sex marriage.
• Supports the right for any female to have an abortion.
• Pacifist.
• Believes in a very well-defined and enforced separation of church and state.
• Supports a strong movement toward funding medical research.
• An environmentalist, works consistently towards goals that benefit the environment.
• Against government censorship in any form and believes parents should be more responsible in that regard.

Personal

Cannon has joined numerous groups in both Ibagli and Palterma that are pro-human rights and against capitalism, violence, and homophobia. Cannon is a vegetarian, atheist, and is openly homosexual. Cannon resides in Haphonia. He spends his time listening to music (notably punk rock, of which he is still an avid fan), enjoying the outdoors, and reading. His favorite vacation spot is France, he visits every year. Cannon is a huge fan of Paris, calling it "the greatest city in the world."

Controversy

Always out-spoken and rarely withdrawn, Cannon has been caught up in numerous controversies.

While leading Palterma, he frequently criticized the Conservatives in Palterma and Ibagli. His very vocal attacks boiled over in an interview, in which he labeled Palterman conservatives "fascists" and Ibaglian conservatives "not too much better." Outraged, many conservatives called for him to resign. The pressure in the situation never really went away, as Cannon refused to apologize.

Upon returning to the mainland, Cannon was caught in a scandal due to comments about organized religion, saying in an interwiew: "I think it's [religion] mass delusion. It's ignorant. It follows no logic. Yet, people believe it. It's sad to me that people some people never even question it. People should question everything." Some members of public were once again outraged, but he won his election into Parliament in a landslide. Cannon once again refused to apologize, but did say he was strictly expressing his beliefs and not trying to condemn all religious and spiritual beliefs.

While in Parliament, Cannon clashed with numerous other members of all the major parties. Famously, he called conservative leaders "completely ignorant and blind to the publics needs and wants." As a Justice of the Supreme Court, Cannon has continued his very vocal campaign against conservatism. Recently butting heads with Marcus Smallegan and other conservatives on military matters, referring to the group as "The Aggressively Macho Over-Spenders."

It is generally believed that the "higher-up" Cannon had become "slightly displeased" with in the Liberal Party was actually friend and Liberal Party leader Roger Pollack. Ibaglian press members had noticed a distinct change in attitude from either person towards the other beginning in mid-July 2006. While not much is known, the two seemed to have conflicting views on world affairs, despite being typically very same-minded in beliefs. The controversy grew to a boil when Cannon refused to speak with Pollack in a meeting and left, on the evening before his biggest trip, a tour of North America. Cannon reportedly had no contact with Pollack at all during the trip and instead "talked directly to the secretaries and avoided Pollack." Upon his return, the two seemed to mend fences but seemed to have an icy political relationship. In October, Cannon thanked many members of his party but left out Pollack and all but Péricles Maranhão Neto from his other cabinet members, a group he was known to have numerous conflicts with. He reportedly has not spoken to Pollack since he left the Liberal Party, but recently, expressed interest in working with the party.

Honours and Decorations

• Royal Ibaglian Order - Knight Grand Companion (2006) (Knight Companion in 2004)
• Most Excellent Order of the British Empire - Member (1980)
• Lord of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (2007)
• Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
• Semicentennial Medal (2005)

Shorthand Titles

• Jeremy Cannon (1959–1980)
• Jeremy Cannon, MBE (1980–1982)
• Jeremy Cannon, MBE, MP (1982–2001)
• Jeremy Cannon, MBE, MLA (2001–2004)
• Sir Jeremy Cannon, KCRI, MBE (2004)
• Sir Jeremy Cannon, KCRI, MBE, MP (2004–2005)
• The Honourable Sir Jeremy Cannon, KCRI, MBE, MP (2005–2006)
• The Honourable Sir Jeremy Cannon, KCRI, MBE (2006)
• The Honourable Sir Jeremy Cannon, KCRI, MBE, QC (2006)
• The Honourable Sir Jeremy Cannon, GCRI, MBE, QC (2006–2007)
• The Right Honourable Sir Jeremy Cannon, GCRI, MBE, QC (2007)
• The Right Honourable Sir Jeremy Cannon, GCRI, MBE, QC, MP (2007–)

13th Ministry - Government of Roger Pollack
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Erik Barnes	Minister of Foreign Affairs 2006	Leonard Shedd
House of Commons
Predecessor	District	Successor
Diane Warman	Chesterford 2004–2006	Celia Caldwell