Victoire Fontaine

Victoire Fontaine · Apr 4, 2022

First Debate

Question	Initial Answer
Werewolves and Animagi have to register with the ministry, what parts of this practice, if any, do you intend to keep?	I do believe that processes like that are there for a reason. Though werewolves and animagi's are not inherently dangerous to our community, I believe it is right to ask those who are, to register this with the ministry and for the ministry to keep safe this information. For werewolves it's important for us to be aware of numbers purely to ensure that if there's a massive spike that we can look at and try to figure out the why. For animgus it's a piece of magic which can allow a wizard to disguse themselves, and say a crime is committed and the witness only saw a cat leave the scene of the crime, we'd be able to look at that list. For me, I would not intend to change much, but will certainly look at the ministry privacy policy and data protection to ensure that what personal information is held about these and elements similar are not at risk of being exposed and are being handled and used for only the appropriate reasons,
what is your view on Hogwarts students having access to information about dark and/or dangerous magic via the Restricted Section?	Education is very important to me. I've just outlined about a desire to teach children and people about the werewolf members of our community, I do also believe the books should be there and students should have access to it if they need it. Banning information makes it no less desireable or accessible. A determined child will find their way into any cookie jar. I know from my own experiences at hogwarts, many years ago, that to get a book from the restricted section a professor has to sign off on it. If a student were taking a large amount of books from the restricted section, the professors and librarians will know and can ask the question of why. We should seek to encourage open discussions about magic, about why things are dangerous, about why something is dark, discourage use of it by teaching how it can go wrong. We should continue to allow students to explore many branches of magic, we should foster curiousity, not stem it because that'll never stop it. I do believe too that the Professors at the school need to exercise judgement about allowing kids to access such books which we should trust them to do, and kids taking out the book need to be reminded if they do anything from the books they will face consequences for those actions. We must allow Hogwarts students access to knowledge and teach them about how and why dark magic is bad,
what approach do you believe Aurors should take to crime prevention?	I would like to echo what Ms Rowan Cullen said towards the end there, that the Aurors do an excellent job. I've had a lot of interactions with Aurors recently, given, as everyone here is aware they are assigned to our protection. I remember too, when Ioan Finch was attacked in the last election cycle, it was the aurors that brought calm, and ensured the in prisonment of the perpetrators. The fine men and women who decide to help keep our communities safe are valued. My work within the international magical law division means I'm accutely aware of the laws in our society and that of a few others too, I have always been driven by a desire of right and wrong, and I believe that's the best way to go about it. As such, no matter what, my desire would be that anyone brought in by Aurors be proved guilty with real concrete proof, no innocent person will go to prison on my watch. For the aurors themselves, I would encourage more learning, to keep continous development and opportunity for them even after they've completed the original training. I would ensure that all aurors are given highly competitive wages, and fair overtime, as well as sufficient breaks between back to back shifts or a period of nightshifts. The last thing I'd want is for the people who do such a good jobs protecting us to be at risk because they are over worked or tired. But I'll draw it back in, crime and crime prevention are hard, we can gather data, surveil all we want, but to a certain extent we will always be behind what ever is planned, whatever crime happens. I would want to increase auror research, increase funding into aurors inflitrating groups, I would want to increase the amount aurors can offer as rewards for information, immunitiy to those who wish to get out of that cycle and I would liase with our friends across borders, to ensure anyone who commits an act cannot just apparate out of the country.
Do your policies for individuals convicted of crimes favour punishment or rehabilitation?	I share Ms Rowan Cullen's view of rehabilition, there are countless studies conducted by muggles which show the merits of helping rather than harshly punishing, especially in less major crime but even then, to show someone compassion, to allow someone the opportunity to improve and change, that's vital. I would definitely say I favour rehabilitation, especially in circumstances where a crime is less severe, where there is clear remorse, where an act of violence was committed by someone in a desperate situation, when a crime is committed by children. My experiences in law have always shown me that the law should be compassionate, and I would want be that in the role as minister. I think this means having shorter sentences, community service and aid at the end of sentences for helping them move forward including something as simple as cash in hand and a social worker to support them. We should keep in mind that Azkaban is no longer like the horror it was in the past, and some people will go there. At azkaban we should continue to provide aid, in lawyers, in psychologists for inmates to speak to, proper learning facilities, proper healthcare facilities, proper healthy meals and the ability to speak with loved ones, to keep in contact with people outside at no expense to them. If minister I would continue to push for rehabilitation over punishment, but punishment may at times be the necessary course of action
The Statute of Secrecy has been in place for hundreds of years, what do you believe are the advantages, if any, of keeping it in place?	As a muggleborn, whose family does not get to learn and experience the magical world, perhaps my opinions will be a little surprising. For all I have learned about the magical world and keeping it private from muggles, this is a sensible choice. Though I would support learning especially for muggle parents or guardians of magical children, I would stop at those married into the magical world, since there is nothing to stop those partners from being the one to inform them. I would keep the statute, I do not believe its removal would be beneficial to magical people or muggle people or heal some of the relationships damaged by magic in muggleborn families. We could certainly help the muggle world in many ways with our magic, but I do believe the right choice is to keep the statute and keep our world a little away from all of theirs.
Rebuttal to Question 1	While I acknowledge all of the points given by Mr Cresswell, I'd like to move back to some of what Ms Rowan-Cullen said, I work within the Magical Law office and admittedly are not that tuned in to what goes on, on the ground at the Magical creatures regulation office. I find Ms Rowan-Cullen's points about the double handling in it to be very apt, but would argue that there is a merit to having a double handed approach as not all werewolves would want to be known to an organisation other than the list, for their own reasons and condensing it would force some to do something they don't want. The registry can tell them where they can get the help, but shouldn't necessarily be the help. I think an arms length, government funded help organisation would be more appropriate for providing help and could be aided by funding more jobs there, so the staff working in the registry do not need to work for both. But it brings me to I think the better choice in all of this about the werewolves in our community, is that we should be teaching and informing all citizens about what it means to be a werewolf, what processes are in place which helps those members of our community manage their conditions to the degree they would like and how they pose no more of threat to individuals than anyone else. I think it's important that kids coming into the world are told near immediately that they exist and about what it means. I remember first learning about werewolves when I joined Hogwarts from a book that was outdated and truly awful. I was an avid reader, so I read more learning more about it, but the fact was I had to seek out this information. Change in our society is based on the lived experience of valued community members like Ms. Rowan-Cullen, and by teaching everyone about all of the elements of Lyncathropy, and to ensure there are no old barriers brought back preventing any lyncanthrope to engage meaningfully in society as the rest of us so easily do. I don't believe education will eliminate the need for a registry of some nature but that would be a conversation to continue having as we educate.

Second Debate

Question	Answer
Do you think there should be schools, prior to Hogwarts, for students of non magical families to learn and become acquainted with magic?	You know, I'd love to consider the word school there in the question; should there be schools prior to Hogwarts for students of non-magical families? How do we define schools, do we just mean classes, do we mean a whole course, how optional is it for these children, at what point do we do this. We know that magical first presents at around 7, and kids then appear on the Hogwarts register, but if we do it too early they might struggle to keep it secret, struggle to form bonds with the kids around them because of this information. If older, would it not just make sense to give Hogwarts the resources or use ministry resources to have a class or a couple of lessons on the magical world. I disagree with Mr. Cresswell, I believe that it would depend on what sort of thing was set up to then decide what sort of Hogwarts or ministry support it would need. I do not believe we should have schools for children of non-magical families prior to Hogwarts, in fact I do believe that magical kids should have some form of pre-Hogwarts schooling, but I think we should wait until kids have their letters and in those letters invite them to come along to a knowledge session at the ministry. Where they can get an introduction to the world. It would only be for a day and cover things like what exists in our world that doesn't in there, why we keep things secret, who can they tell about this, who can't they," Victoire said, "I believe with this we could offer tandem information and guidance to parents or guardians and perhaps run a session for them too. My focus would always be on the children themselves, and all of this would be optional, run by employees of the ministry and not be a whole school,"
What plans, if any, do you have for adult education and continuing development?	I believe that there is a lot we can do for adults in the magical world, as other colleagues have outlined, we have a number of careers which offer further education options, I would like other colleagues make to offer further vocational learning elements for those with a passion for herbology or transfiguration, for potions, all of which can be supported by ministry money. I think too, we support the kids at Hogwarts with an allowance, which if young wizard decided to pursue academics and go to a muggle university, I would propose to continue giving them that allowance. I do think it would be difficult to set up our own further education facilities, there would be a lot of questions of it, and perhaps this could be a long term eventual goal of myself and future ministers. But I do believe we'd do a lot more in just helping people, not just our recent graduates in providing them with plentiful avenues of work, education and careers by adding funding to a lot of the processes we already have in place
Would you continue to allow access to students to the Forbidden Forest, especially after the circumstances of last year? Why and why not?	I'd add some personal experience here, as Ms King will possibly remember, when I was seventh year at Hogwarts a dear friend of mine drowned in the Hogwarts lake. It was a horrible accident, devasting my year group and many of the people at school. He had always gone swimming since first year, he liked the rocks at the bottom and had been a rather strong swimmer due to that, and due to quidditch, but he was not a strong spell caster and when he found himself in distress was unable to alert anyone to the fact. His death was a tragedy but technically could've been prevented by a wall around the lake or some spell but that's not a viable reaction to such an incident. Knowing this, and knowing very well that students will go into the forest regardless of how forbidden we make it, we should as Mr. Cresswell said, seek to educate our young people specifically on what to do if something happens. If I were to be made minister I would have a professor at Hogwarts teach all children when they first arrive the spell to signify distress, so that should something happen, they can immediately signal for help. I would endeavour to have the hospital wing offer courses in basic first aid, muggle and magical so that if something happens students can do something, and I would ask that a professor teaches students about the sort of creatures they might run into in the forest and what to do. I would also propose more groundstaff whose job it would be to monitor the lake, the forest and the cliffs, and be on guard to step in if things go wrong and in the case of the forest, prevent students from getting in. Students will have access to the forbidden forest, as they currently do, I agree there is much to learn and gain from nature, but trips into the forest should be in the company of an adult, and if not, they should have tools at their disposable to do something if something happens. The more prepared they are, the more vigilant we are, the more we can we did everything in our power to prevent accidents. I think it should be remembered too that the incident at Hogwarts at the end of last semester was as a direct result of students who callously endangered the lives of all the staff and children at the school. The forest is dangerous without a doubt, and I would've sought these changes regardless, but I think it's important that we be clear on the role the forest played in this incident and not unduly restrict the forest because of it,
What are your thoughts on the current curriculum taught at Hogwarts New Zealand? Are there any classes you would add or remove from the curriculum?	I think I'd want to start answering this question by assuring any of the listening professors that I will not remove any classes from the curriculum, all the current professors can remain assured that I would not dare take their jobs. My biggest desire for the professors is that they get a wage increase, the professors ar Hogwarts work tirelessly and have not seen wage increases for a long while, and they deserve it. I wouldn't remove any courses, but I would want the ministry to have more oversight of specifically the muggle studies course, which has in the past been said to be out of date. But I think it's important that we take the time to make sure all the courses remain up to date so that students learning get the most up to date information. As I said in the last question I would push for more first aid courses, and for more education around the forest, and for more students to learn how to signal distress with their magic. I would always be open to Hogwarts themselves asking about any courses they would like to add, if there's a professor or desire amongst students to learn a certain subject then I would want the ministry to be informed so that we can help faciliate that, with funds or the necessary contacts. Overall, the curriculum at Hogwarts is good, the flavour that professors bring is great and I would not seek the remove any, only to add if there's a demand and make sure that the information taught are up to date.
How involved do you believe the Ministry should be in the goings on of the school? Do you believe the current level of involvement is adequate or lacking?	There is a fine line separating Hogwarts and the ministry, the government body dictates when exams should be and our Examination board, based in the ministry does play a hand in approving exams and setting the standard. We're also involved in the school in other ways, like a ministry employee and not a professor teaches apparition. We're involved in the school, unfortunately, if the school wants it or not. "But in saying that, I don't think the ministry needs to be more involved than it is, unless the school asks us to be. I think that level of involvement should be reviewed and considered by the school every couple of years and I do think the head staff members at Hogwarts should meet at least annually with the ministry to go over their concerns and needs for the year ahead. If I were minister, I wouldn't set out to change anything, but I would set out to improve our communication, to improve how and when the ministry and professors speak to each other, thus introducing the annual meetings. As we've outlined, both in this debate and the one prior the ability of our two bodies to have positive communication channels is quite important. One of my over arching policies from this campaign is to set up a new department in the ministry that would oversee the welfare of magical children and it would be vital for that body to communicate with the school. For instance say if there is a child who required more focused personal learning or the school needed to communicate that a child is being treated incorrectly at home and thus there is a need for the ministry to intervene for the welfare of the child. These would involve us more within the school but it wouldn't be from a lack of involvement prior but more targetted. On top of all that, I think it would be only fair that the communication is also there to allow the school to request funds for new professors, to request for lots of new books or equipment. As minister I would be keen to support the school with a greater portion of the overall budget if they needed it. But again, the only way that can happen is if that communication window is open, respectful and productive, which I would aim for it to be.
What course within your own schooling left an impact on you?	History of Magic was my favourite subject at school. Perhaps not the subject you'd expect from someone whose never experienced any magic prior to the schooling would say, but I'd always loved History when I was at muggle school, so coming into the magical world with its wealth of knowledge about different periods of history that the muggle textbooks just didn't have. A side of history that I'd known nothing about, it was just so much information that I wanted to devour every word of it. The older I got, the more interested I became on the more recent history and the way the different magical bodies around the world interacted and coordinated together, and on the laws around it, which was what drew me into what I've done since I left school. The subject itself, and the course didn't always cover these things but it did cover things that helped me improve my critical thinking skills, helped my revision abilities and was just a really engaging element of my education.

Third Debate

Questions	Answers
What is the first aspect of the New Zealand wizarding economy you will concentrate on improving if you are elected?	I think Mr. Cresswell raises an excellent point, I know from my work in international law the sort of agreements between countries take time but are incredibly good assets to have. Because I believe they would take time, I think it's right that they would be high on the agenda, both for businesses who need the supplies and on the consumers too, but, for me, that's not where my focus would be. The first aspect of the economy that I would want to focus on, is on the business on our local streets, I'd seek to lower the interest rates on properties, as well as reduce taxes on businesses. I'd want to encourage any aspiring businesses to be able to more easily purchase that store front to allow their business to be even more successful. For me, the first tasks in a lot of my policy areas is really to help the people on the ground.
Is there anything you would do to promote local manufacturing and sale of locally made goods?	My answer is not that different from Ms.McGowan's point. But a few years back we used to have job fairs, where people from various ministry departments would speak to the kids of hogwarts. And while we stopped doing that, the idea of that sort of fair is one I think would be good. I would seek to organise such a fair, inviting all businesses, big and small who are New Zealand based to come sell their wears in an event like a business fair. The would allow both business with store fronts and ones without to increase their clientale, and be able to promote themselves to a bigger and more willing buying audience.
Do you think the current regulations on the imports and exports of dark and dubious goods are satisfactory, or would you want to make any changes?	While I cannot claim as a deep a knowledge of how these systems need changed as Mr. Cresswell, my proposal would not be a complete overhaul, as I don't see any problems necessarily with how things are run. I would bulster our ministry department, hiring more employees who would be able to scrutinise better the various applications for the import and export of dark and dubious goods, they are the forefront of ensuring that the goods coming in or going out meet the standards that we set. I think what sits on the list should be often reviewed. If goods are damaged but were brought in legally, then these should be flagged to the ministry so that we can investigate what went wrong, ensuring that future handling be appropriate and safe. Dark goods are a part of potions and some are used, we should keep and enhance our current regulations without overhauling what we know works.
Do you have any plans for further supporting and promoting businesses owned by women and minorities?	I would like to start my answer to commend Mr Cresswell on his statement there, and while I cannot claim that I had given it as much thought as he had, the equalities examples that he just gave are ones whose sentiment I concur with. Those mariginalised communities within Magical New Zealand, deserve to work as anyone would want to, to own business as anyone else would want to and be free to just exist without persecution like anyone else. If I were minister, I would keep the ministry out of the affairs of the businesses themselves, who runs a business is of no interest to the ministry unless they are a wanted criminal, we can provide support and assistance to all businesses who are seeking aid, and can promote all business in things like business fairs, and subsidised rent on the prime properties on Brightstone, Obsidian Harbour and in the mall. These sorts of business fairs can include special events for marginalised communities, or the promotion of low interest businesses loan in association with Gringrotts thus opening the door to people who would not otherwise have the capital to get started. One thing one of the other students in my Hogwarts did was an LGBTQ+ celebration, and I would work with the LGBTQ+ groups in our communities to bring a festival of that sort to Brightstone and/or Obsidian, which can allow LGBTQ+ vendors a festival to connect with people and find a market too. My final point is to reiterate that my campaign, my messaging and beliefs hold firm, any discrimination of any kind directed at anyone will not be tolerated in my ministry, the policies and laws that I would seek to write would enshrine my sentiment that acts of bigotry, discrimination and hatred are completely unacceptable and punishable.

Victoire Fontaine · Aug 28, 2022

Follow The Minister During her Tenure

Thread Title & Link	Description	Open/Closed	Year/School Year
Passing of the Torch	Victoire meets Claudia Holland to pass the torch over	Closed Thread	2057/Y41
All Ministry Staff Meeting	Victoire and Rupert Creswell arrange an all staff meeting	All ministry employees are encouraged to join	2057/Y41
Y41 Graduation Ceremony: Graduates	Victoire steps in and presides over the Y41 graduation ceremony	Only open for the Graduating class of 2057	2057/Y41
Interviewing the Minister and the Deputy	Victoire and Rupert Cresswell are interviewed by Sophie Wilson	Thread is only open to those invited

Tristan Collins Campaign Manager	Benjamin Riley Special Advisor	Eva Marsh Communication Manager
to come Intern	to come Intern	to come Intern

Education Hogwarts New Zealand, Gryffindor, Graduated 2042 Prefect, Head Girl, and part of the Heta Omega	Work Ministry Official for Magical Law Department, 2042-present (brief interruptions for mat leave)
Magical Abilities Non-verbal magic, Apparition	OWLs & NEWTs Gradebook Link
Family Married to Alexander "Carter" Fontaine, two children; Apolline Fontaine & Henri Fontaine	Origins Muggleborn. Born in Charleroi, Belgium. Moved to Australia at 10, New Zealand for school. Settled in New Zealand at 17.

Where did you go the last time you took a vacation outside the country?	I went to Belgium with my family, my muggle family are all mostly still based there, and I try to go back every couple of years to make sure that my children don’t lose out on meeting cousins, second cousins and grandparents.
Where did you go the last time you took a vacation inside the country?	I have admittedly not travelled too much within NZ, partly due to work and family living elsewhere, but when my son turned 4 we took a family trip to Auckland, which was really nice. The weather was a bit terrible but he had fun.
What are your pets and what are their names?	No pets, I want to wait until my children are a little older before introducing a dog or cat. They both will get owls though when they go to school. I think it would just be best for my sanity if they were easily able to write to me. Growing up my family was not much of a pet household, because everyone worked and we wouldn’t have been able to look after a pet. Which is something I have carried over into my adult life with my own family.
What was the last meal you cooked?	I made polenta with a ratatouille. I'm not a great cook, but I always try when I have the time to cook a meal from scratch, my family ate everything, so I think it went down well. I do tend to cook the same things that my parents cooked for me, and can admit, I could make more of an effort to cook more New Zealand dishes. My best meal is waffles, I'm a dual citizen now, of New Zealand and Belgium and I'd do my Belgian heritage a disservice if I wasn't great at making waffles.
What's your drink of choice?	Rose Wine if it’s alcoholic, I know it’s more of summer wine, usually sweeter, more processed and not for everyone, but I just love the taste of them, I love the variety of grapes and varying colours of the wine. It's just lovely to me. If non-alcoholic then it’s likely pumpkin juice, it wasn’t something I’d had before coming to Hogwarts and to New Zealand, but it’s delicious.
Where did you go to School?	I went to Hogwarts New Zealand, it was quite something. I’m muggleborn, and thus was new to the world, and it was overwhelming in parts. But Hogwarts was amazing, particularly I was very well supported my head of house, Professor Kingsley. I was a gryffindor and became prefect in my fifth year and then head girl in my final year. Both of which were huge honours. The end of my schooling was somewhat marred by the death of one of my dear friends. Partly why I believe that we should work harder to improve safeties.
What was your best and worst subject at school?	My best subject was history of magic, I'd always loved history and found it so engaging and fascinating. My worst subject was probably flying to begin with and then probably charms. I struggled a lot with that class. In my younger years I wasn't always the best student, usually more interested in other things, but I decided to really knuckle down in fourth year and it was the class I struggled with most.
What’s your favourite book?	That’s a tough one, though I don’t have many opportunities to read nowadays. I really enjoyed the thriller House of Leaves, it’s not a political book, but more of a horror and is a fairly old novel now, but I found the way it was laid out to be really interesting. It was really engaging, a difficult read at times, but great.
First Concert, Favourite Concert	My first concert somewhat boringly was the Brussel Philharmonic Orchestra during a presentation at the EU parliament with my parents when I was about 8 years old, and my favourite concert was by the now I think retired musician Elijah Tine. He was a guitarist, toured a lot, he was really good. It just had a magic atmosphere.
Favourite Quidditch team	While I do hope to make quidditch safer, my favourite team has always been the Moutohora Macaws. They’re a great New Zealand team and just a team I really enjoy watching play. I’ll admit I don’t go to a lot of games, but whenever I have the time I take my children to them. I want to make quidditch more safe, not ban it.

Arranging Aurors	Victoire meets with the Aurors tasked with her protection.	This topic is closed.
A Job Offer	Victoire meets with Benjamin Riley to discuss him joining the campaign as a special advisor	This topic is closed.
A Campaign Manager	Victoire meets with Tristan Collins to formally bring him on board as her campaign manager.	This topic is closed.
Communications Are Vital	Victoire meets with Eva March to formally ask her to join her campaign as the comms manager.	This topic is closed.
Election Broadcast: Meet the Candidates	The official launch of the campaign trail, Victoire with the other candidates sat down to outline each of their campaigns	This topic is only for candidates.
Launching a Campaign: Book Reading	Victoire starts her campaign at a bookstore, reading a children's novel for her kids, arranged by the bookstore owner.	This topic is open and all are welcome to join!
Election Debate 1	Victoire attends the first of three debates	This topic is only for candidates and is now over.
Waffles In The Park! Come Meet the Candidate	Victoire is handing out waffles and Leaflets in the park	This topic is open and all are welcome to join!
Election Debate 2	Victoire attends the second of three debates	This topic is only for candidates and is now over.
Answering Student Questions - Campaigning Continues	Victoire continues her campaign by answering student questions	This topic is open for anyone (but specifically students)
Election Debate 3	Victoire attends the second of three debates	This topic is only for candidates and is now over.

Victoire Fontaine - Minister

serving the people | mama of two

Victoire Fontaine

serving the people | mama of two

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