It All Started With Magnets

.27.

"We need to be wary though." He shook his head, nearly grimacing. "Vice-Admiral Hollister say that ahh, she has come to-to mean a fair bit on the intergalactic stage. If she get, you know ahhh, hurt, retaliation is possible." The words had the reaction he was expecting and there were a few gasps and a lot of curses.

"Are you serious?" Harvey said it sharply and Alex nodded slowly.

"Absolument." He took a heavier drink. Things weren't going well, at all and it was all because of Jack. "We might need to ah... think perhaps, of removing..." He trailed it off as he looked at the rest of the Ministers. "The problem." Alex was more than aware of why a hush fell over the rest of them. Jack Lawrence was a shit leader but a great politician, he got it from his father. If he was leader of the party, chances of a majority government were high but the risks were also high. So far they had coasted along well, no large problems that Jack couldn't handle, things that didn't stress him out.

Alex knew that the only reason he held any power at all was because Jack placed him there but the man could not perform under pressure. He squirmed around like a caught fish rather than figuring out how to break the line. "This situation is..." He struggled to find the appropriate word to describe it.

"Fuck the kid gloves." George said it quickly. "Jack is absolutely shit at high pressure situations and he's fucking this up. This is too a good mix for him to be in and if we want to be the country leading the rest of the world to the intergalactic stage, we need to oust him." The words were firm and Alex raised his glass in agreement.

"He is going to drive our meal ticket into the hands of another country or he will hand her over to the US himself to protect himself and his re-election. Something President Garcia knows full well. I can guarantee he's mobilizing the border because he knows Jack will cave within days." Henrietta nodded her head before gesturing with her hand. "I have said from day one we need to minimize his exposure to outside pressure, he can't handle it. He flounders and tries to placate immediately."

"Is true. I do my best to minimize but he can undo months of work in one meeting if there is pressure." Jaques agreed with it and Alex nodded before heaving out a sigh as the discussion started.

"That isn't to mention the bullying. The reason we're even having this discussion is he made a shit choice in who to try to bully." The Minister of Veterans Affairs shook his head as he said it.

The Minister of Ag nodded, "Yah I think he expected Matthews to just roll over but I think he forgets that not everyone is as accommodating to his displays as we are. So when she told him to fuck off, more than likely rightfully so, he threw a tantrum about it but he nearly fucked it all up by removing us from this situation entirely."

"We are at fault for that. We have spoiled him. He needs ahh how you say, reality check." Alex said it with a slight shrug. They were definitely at fault for that. They created this strange little echo chamber for him, isolating him, feeding his ego, making him feel like he was stronger and better than he actually was. It kept his confidence in top shape for debates and let him verbally eviscerate his opponents during his re-election campaign but when it came to actually running the country? Well there was a reason they had these meetings without him and always had.

Agreement came from the rest and Alex finished off his glass and set it off to the side, putting the cap on the bottle. That was enough for him for the night. He listened to the rest discuss the reasons why it was best they remove him as leader of the party. They were all valid point, issues that had been problems before, just not as glaring as they were now on this new stage. It made Alex wonder if this was perhaps a good thing. Lawrence had been starting to trail in the polls, people were getting more and more resistant to him and his attitudes. Things that had helped before were now becoming clear detriments to the party as a whole.

Alex was aware the discussion was starting to become a rant rather than something productive so he cleared his throat and clicked his webcam on and off, a signal they developed for when someone wanted the floor in the meeting. Once everyone was looking at him and quiet he cleared his throat.

"This ahhh venting is good but not productive." He said it slowly before leaning forward. "We need to ask the question. In this new political landscape, in this ahh how you say, intergalactic community where Canada leads the world to this new-new-new ahh stage. Does Jack fit as Prime Minister?" He asked it slowly and carefully, his brain feeling slightly fuzzy from the alcohol, not too much but it was a nice relaxing feeling. He smiled at the chorus of no's he heard. That was the response he was hoping for, a complete agreement from the Cabinet.

"I heard there was mention about potential Ambassador seats in this Galactic Union. Six of them, one on the Supreme Council. How do we approach that?" Henrietta asked it quickly and Alex smiled.

"Use it as leverage of course. We cannot have that power and not use it." He looked at each individual box, scanning the entire screen. "If the rest of the world wants what we have, they need to fall behind us." It was the best use of it. They didn't have to use it as a stick but rather a carrot. Something to entice them to follow.

"If we remove Jack, who will be the interm Prime Minister?" The question was asked low and Alex smiled again.

"I am willing." To be the interm and more than likely full Prime Minister of Canada as they lead the world into the intergalactic community? He was more than willing to take that on.

"Of course you are." George scoffed slightly, rolling his eyes but the man was smiling all the same and Alex leaned back in his chair with a grin.

"I am, how you say, ambitious." The responding chuckles heartened him. He knew that within a week, Jack Lawrence would be resigning as Prime Minister and more than likely, he would be taking his place. That called for celebration.

He grabbed the bottle of Yukon Jack and lifted it for everyone to see as he poured himself another glass. "Santé." He took a drink and grinned again as everyone else lifted their various drinks to salute with. "To a better Canada." He could hear them repeating it and he sipped his drink with a smile. He mentally lifted his glass again, giving his own private salute.

To Canada emerging as a world leader on the intergalactic stage.