Governor-General excuses Baron Geier of Escambia from Attendance at the Opening of Parliament.

-- Staff Writer

Lord Zane Geier, First Baron Geier of Escambia, has announced he will not be able to attend the State Opening of Parliament in Pensacola this year, citing concerns about the availability and cost of petrol and concerns for his health and safety.

Lord Geier formally requested leave to miss the physical assembly which was granted by the Governor-General. Although the Office of the Governor-General has refused to officially comment on the request, it did acknowledge that the Lord Zane Geier, First Baron Escambia would not be attending the Ceremonies, and that the absence is for reasons 'completely acceptable to the Crown'.

Unofficial sources have revealed that the reasons given include the expense involved: gasoline prices having dramatically increased since the last visit by the Baron to his Baronial Estates; Concerns about proper health care en route (the Baron suffers from gout), and concerns about criminal activities and civil unrest in certain portions of the area between the Baron's summer estate and Pensacola where the Queen's Justice is currently held in abeyance by the United States and and the US States of Alabama and Florida.

Lord Geier joins His Excellency Alan Goudman, High Commissioner to Her Majesty's Provence of Alberta as a Member of the Government of the Dominion of British West Florida whose travel to and from the Dominion for diplomatic business has been hindered by the actions (or lack thereof) of the US Government.

The Baron Escambia resides in the Crown Lands approximately 150 miles north of the 1763 border of the Dominion Proper, in the 'Crown Lands' held in reserve for 'Native Peoples' by the Dominion, as mandated in the Royal Proclamation of 1763.