Catherine Howebrucke

Catherine Kendra Howebrucke (born July 11, 1971 - August 14, 2065) is a Polarian politician and incumbent President of the Executive Council of Polaris, serving as President from 2017 to 2032. She was inaugurated as President on January 20, 2017, following her victory in the Polaris general elections, 2016. Howebrucke won re-election twice in 2021 and 2026, respectively, becoming the longest-serving President of the Executive Council. She was responsible for a number of policy innovations throughout her tenure, among them the National Pharmacare Act, the creation of the Retraining & Automation Administration, and the annexation of New Delphis.

Prior to her tenure as President, she served as a Senator in the Legislative Congress of Polaris representing New Westshield where she held prominent roles in committee. Prior to her Senate experience, she dabbled briefly in Polarian municipal politics as an Executive Board Member.

Ahead of the Polaris general elections, 2031, Howebrucke announced her retirement from public life, announcing in a televised address, that "...the time for a new generation has come, and so, the dials must turn accordingly...". She subsequently endorsed Haron J. Shirinagan, a three-term senator for Wilkes, as her successor for the presidency. Following her presidency, she became chair of the Graymond Foundation, and remained tepidly active in Progressive Democratic Party thereafter.

Background
Catherine Kendra Howebrucke was born in Rogerston, Water Kingdom to Carolyn (née Dorset) and Thomas Howebrucke, both civil servants for the Polar Islands' Department of Transport. Howebrucke was raised in the wealthy East Battleford neighbourhood in Polaris City, but was sent to public schools in Polaris until university.

Howebrucke is a forensic accountant by profession, having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Criminology from the University of Polaris in 1997, and obtained a Master’s in Accountancy from the University of Snowville in 2000, followed by a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Rogerston in 2001. Howebrucke worked for the Snowville Police Department in Northwest Eastshield investigating tax fraud for seven years, from 2000 to 2007.

Prior to obtaining her Bachelor's degree, Howebrucke served for three years in the Antarctic Army, obtaining the rank of Corporal. She served within the 9th Mainland Division our of AFB Kirk Falls in Polaris City, assisting with training operations within the division. Howebrucke withdrew from the Army to pursue higher education, though later as President has stated she “...looks back fondly on [her] time serving with the Army, and that [she] continue[s] to maintain firm bonds with many of [her] former colleagues.”

Political career
Howebrucke first entered municipal politics in 2008 as an Executive Board Member in Polaris City Council, serving Strahltown-West Dellridge. While serving on the Executive Board. She was elected with 52% of the vote in her district, defeating incumbent Findlay Carswick. Howebrucke chaired the Committee on Budget & Appropriations, and was Deputy Chair for the Committee on Public Safety & Crime. With the enactment of the Jackson Point Plan, the Executive Board was dissolved on July 31, 2011.

Senate (2011-2017)
Following Polarian independence in 2011, Howebrucke was encouraged to pursue federal politics in the new Polarian state by several PDP officials. She garnered the Polaris Democratic nomination unopposed in New Westshield’s 9th senatorial district. During the Polaris general elections, 2011,she was elected Senator for New Westshield's 9th senatorial district (Strahltown-North Pinegrove), with 76% of the vote.

In the Senate, Howebrucke was the renowned chair of the Committee on Finances, having launched probing investigations on graft within the Port of Polaris agency. She also served on the Committee on Justice & Civil Rights, lending her expertise to the committee’s work on strengthening regulatory frameworks on accounting practices for corporations. In 2014, she played an instrumental role in coordinating government-in-exile-led efforts against Meilor Polaris, and chaired the Joint Committee for Rebuilding and Reconciliation (JCRR), which in addition to helping rebuild Polaris in the aftermath of the Frosian War, engaing with various states on distributing Reconstruction Funding effectively and efficiently.

Under Howebrucke's leadership, the JCRR successfully redistributed $115 billion in immediate economic aid to impacted Polarians, which included supporting the rebuilding of public works, damaged private dwellings, and funding for mental health and emotional support for victims of the Frosian War. Much of this demanded stringent cooperation between the JCRR and the Polarian Central Bank, which faced pressure to increase the Polarian money supply to revitalize the Polarian economy.

Presidency (2017-)
After a shocking announcement made by then-President Nathaniel B. Kratz in November 2015, Howebrucke began an exploratory campaign to run for the Democratic nomination for President in December 2015. Several federal and state legislators expressed unease about this announcement, given that ideologically, Howebrucke was situated to the right of incumbent President Kratz. Other nomination candidates for President, such as Juno Islands state legislator James Frinebauer and Wilkes senator Kelly Euston, repeatedly levied Howebrucke's previous positions on defense, entitlements, and taxation against her throughout the nomination race. Eventually, Frienbauer and Euston withdrew from the race citing lack of public support or funding, leading to their endorsements of Howebrucke by the end of May 2016.

Having eventually received Kratz and Vice President Reed's endorsements, Howebrucke garnered 89% of party delegates at the quadrennial Polaris National Democratic Conference in Millsburg, Hampton on July 3, 2016, with 5% supporting Frinebauer, and 6% uncommitted.

In the Polaris general elections, 2016, Howebrucke lead the Polaris Democratic Party to obtain a clean sweep of the Executive Council of Polaris, winning the state of New Westshield with 88% of the popular vote. Following the officiation of the election results, Howebrucke was resoundingly elected as President of the Executive Council by the Legislative Congress of Polaris.

Howebrucke was sworn in as President at the East Front of Federation House on January 20, 2017 alongside the rest of the Executive Administrative Council and Congress to a crowd of 275,000.

Economic policy
The Howebrucke administration focused on sustaining the growth of the Polarian economy, amid the challenges of post-Frosian War reconstruction and the rapid automation of the Polarian manufacturing sector.

Nevertheless, Howebrucke is a noted fiscal centrist, having criticized the Kratz administration as a senator for the increase in debt-to-GDP ratio during his tenure. In a televised address to a joint session of Congress on March 12, 2017, Howebrucke vowed to "...ensure foresighted investment in our nation's future, while committing ourselves to fiscal responsibility,", with a promise to deliver a balanced budget by 2021, as reconstruction funding is gradually withdrawn.

Howebrucke has emphasized the importance of innovation and retraining, helping draft the Polaris Innovation Bank Act (PIBA) to create a $2.2 billion technological innovation fund for Polarian inventors and entrepreneurs, in addition to the Skill Capital Act, which sought to increase the availability of post-secondary education to Polarian workers seeking to further their skills or pursue a new career, with nearly $1.5 billion committed to aiding students over ten years. The Skill Capital Act also included provisions to allocate states with more education funding towards coding and financial literacy beginning in elementary school.

This commitment to innovation has also resulted in a greater emphasis on clean technology and an effort to diversify the economies fossil-fuel reliant locales throughout Polaris, notably Puerto Elanor. In her 2017 budget, Howebrucke played a significant role in the introduction of greater subsidies to clean technology firms and innovators, with attention on the utilities, transportation, and manufacturing sectors, with the aim to create more employment in these areas over the next seven years.

Much of Howebrucke's economic policy, has nonethelesss been directed towards post-War reconstruction,particularly in the eastern Polarian states of Barrett, Wilkes, and Snowville, which were most drastically impacted by the war. In a press conference on April 4,2017, Howebrucke announced the creation of the Eastern Polaris Economic and Social Development Agency (EPESDA) to assist with the coordination of funding towards infrastructure and social services to the tune of $10.7 billion annually for three years. For the country at large, the Howebrucke administration included budget provisions to coordinate $3.2 billion in funding towards infrastructure damage repair, and $900 million to electronic network damage repair.

Defense policy
Prior to her presidency, Howebrucke criticized then President Kratz in 2015 for having only allocated the Polaris National Guard, a quota of 60,000 troops and only $47 billion in funding during a television interview on PNBS, stating that "I respect the President for his efforts to rebuild, but what I cannot get over is how he is leaving us vulnerable to our adversaries with such a barebones defense funding,"

In February 2017, Howebrucke, with the sponsorship of congressional allies Reps. Mark Wallanger (PDP-HT),  Paolo Abados (PDP-EN), and Sen. Clara Pambrook (PDP-NW),  introduced the Polaris Defence Revitalization Act (PDRA), which sought to increase the number of regular personnel to 95,000,  double the amount of special operations forces to 14,000, and increase overall defense spending to $76.8 billion. Howebrucke received flak from various PDP members in the Assembly and Senate, with Rep. Laura Flambert (PDP-JI), having denounced it as a "...surreptitous plan to turn Polaris into a police state..." on Chitter, leading to the party removing her from its caucus for three days. Flambert eventually apologized to the party and to Howebrucke to her comments, but to many, reflected some of the attitudes of progressives in the nation. The legislation narrowly passed in the Assembly with a vote of 200-183, and in the Senate with a vote of 70-41. The public was somewhat divided on the issue, with an opinion poll from Winton University/ARC Analytics indicating 52% of the public approved of the measures, 40% opposed, and 8% were neutral or undecided.

In November 2017, the Howebrucke administration announced the Air Defense Modernization Act (ADMA), which would allocate $48 billion over eight years to procure new fighter, bomber, and transport aircraft, and a further $10 billion over ten years to modernize and rehabilitate facilities at airbases throughout Polaris. Met with less resistance than the Polaris Defence Revitalization Act, the legislation sailed through both houses of Congress, providing much needed funding to modernize the Polarian Air Command.

Public image and legacy
Political observers view Howebrucke as a pragmatic centrist and establishmentarian, particularly following the controversy over the Polaris Defence Revitalization Act (PDRA). To some, Howebrucke's tenure represented a paradigm shift within Polarian politics, moving away from the optimistic progressivism the Kratz era to a decidedly more cautious centrism, not only in terms of policy, but also the political culture of Polaris at large. Howebrucke, unlike her predecessor, discarded many of the social democratic elements of the Polaris Democratic Party's platform in favour of more laissez-faire economic policies that emphasized deregulation and more free trade.

Nevertheless, Howebrucke is seen as a stabilizing force within the Polaris Democratic Party, having helped to maintain party unity over her fifteen year tenure, but also maintain substantial public support of the party. Moreover, Howebrucke was instrumental in instituting changes to the PDP's internal governing structure, streamlining and centralizing the system federally.

Howebrucke is seen by many Polarian political observers see Howebrucke as a maternal political figure, projecting strength, stability and decisiveness. Many inside sources within Federation House label Howebrucke as "intense, observant, and unrelenting," often setting high expectations for her staff, and controlling much of her administration's political agenda. Despite this, Howebrucke is seen as less personable and less charismatic than her predecessor, and does not garner much attention within Polarian popular culture.

Personal life
Catherine Howebrucke is married to Brenda Wainsworth, Ph.D., a professor of industrial design at Newdel University in Polaris City. She and her partner married on July 25, 2013, and adopted two chicks, Tulane (born 2015) and Colton (born 2016) Howebrucke. The family presently resides at Federation House in the Polaris Capital District.

Howebrucke is a talented mezzo-soprano, having trained in vocal music as a child. Her favourite pieces to perform are primarily classical and operatic. On several occassions, Howebruck has performed private concerts for elite members of the Polaris Democratic Party. Howebrucke has written and performs compositions of her own, many of which are available through the University of Polaris' Library of Music.