Canada (1983: Doomsday)

Canada is a parliamentary democracy that occupies the northeast coast of North America. The rest of the world often refers to this nation as the Canada Remainder Provinces.

Doomsday
Due to Canada's ties with both the United Kingdom and United States, along with its NATO membership, Canada was one of the countries hit by nuclear weapons on Doomsday. Targets included:
 * Ottawa
 * Toronto
 * Vancouver
 * Calgary
 * Edmonton
 * Regina
 * Winnipeg
 * Montreal
 * Québec City
 * Halifax
 * CFB North Bay

Among the deaths included Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Post-Doomsday
After the immediate deaths and radioactive fallout from this nuclear catastrophe, Canada's cities and population centers became like those of the United States: they lacked any food, running water, or governance, and were submerged into lawlessness and depravity. However, not all of Canada suffered this fate. Because Canada is spread out over a large area, much of the rural areas and even some of the small isolated cities remained largely intact. Canada was also the target of large amounts of refugees from the United States. The most successful region was the Atlantic region as the territories there were able to survive more or less intact. Meanwhile the survivor communities in the Prairie provinces banded together to survive with American communities across the border.

Formational Years: 1984 to 1987
In 1984, at St. John's, a new government was created among the last surviving provinces in the east: Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories (represented by a survivor community at Iqaluit) and the remnants of Québec (Nouveau-Québec, Cote-Nord, and the area around the city of Gaspé). The Northwest Territories were promoted to a province and renamed Nunavut at the request of the native Inuit. Survivors in Saguenay, however, refused to participate and declared independence. A new provisional government reconvened Parliament and chose James Lee as their new Prime Minister, with the promise to hold elections again next year. The new Canadian government took upon itself the herculean task of getting its citizens through the worst of Doomsday. The new government was called the Canada Remainder Provinces (Provinces de la reste du Canada) by some.

The first post-Doomsday election in Canada was held in 1985 when Governor General William Anthony Paddon (former Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland) dissolved the interim parliament at Prime Minister James Lee's request. The Progressive Conservative Party chose James Lee as their leader, the Liberal Party chose Clyde Wells, a native Newfoundlander and former Newfoundland politician. Lorraine Michael also ran as New Democratic Party leader. Clyde Wells won the election with his party having a slim majority in the House of Commons.

Meanwhile the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, cut off from their home country, petitioned the Canadian government for help. After brief negotiations with the new government the islands became a protectorate of Canada in 1985.

Three years after Doomsday, in 1986, a Canadian military base in Newfoundland reported picking up a transmission from Portugal. Soon two-way communication was established, and Canada was in contact with the outside world.

Nouveau-Québec was promoted as a province in 1986 after the Grand Council of the Crees and Kativik Regional Government threatened to secede. Contact was also made with survivors in Nova Scotia and northern New Brunswick, and the government agreed to help them as much as possible without shortchanging those in the Remainder Provinces.

The new Canadian Constitution was drafted in 1986. The main difference with the previous contitution is the Senate reform, in which Senators become elected. Each of the five provinces get five Senators. The other major change was the creation of the role of Deputy Governor General, who succeeds and is appointed by the Governor General.

Continued Survival: 1987 to 1990
1987 was a quiet year for Canada, in which Canadians focused mainly on survival. Direct democracy became a popular idea over the course of this year. Governor General William Anthony Paddon died of cancer and his Deputy Governor General became the new Governor General. Canada-controled areas in Québec had now reached the claimed Saguenay border in 1988. Later on that year, a request came from the Saguenay government to be officially recognised, but they were refused. The Québec and Nouveau-Québec provincial governments began implementing a policy of restricted trade with Saguenay.

Testing of the water in 1988 revealed that the St. Lawrence river was highly toxic due to the nuclear bombing. To a lesser extent the Gulf of St. Lawrence was also affected. It was theorised that the Great Lakes, where a large fraction of the world's fresh water lay, was also thoroughly irradiated as well.

Early in 1989, a referendum was held over the issue of direct democracy, a popular idea. The citizens of Canada supported the idea, and so the House of Commons created a system of monthly referenda which would be binding on the government, and also allowed population-generated referenda which would take place if a citizen got enough support for the idea (typically 5% of the population).

Later that year, a budget vote in the House of Commons went against the government, and an election began (in Canada, elections begin after a confidence vote goes against the government, and budget votes are always confidence votes). The new Prime Minister was Patricia Mella, a Progressive Conservative from Prince Edward Island. She had a minority government.

Contact with the Southern Hemisphere: 1990 to 1993
In 1991, Canada came in contact with the rest of the world through the USS Benjamin Franklin. Canadians were plesantly surprised to hear that people in the southern hemisphere survived. However, some Canadians do not want excessive contact with the outside world. These people eventually form the small, but vocal, Canada First Party.

In 1992 Canada reestablished official diplomatic ties with Portugal, the Nordic Union, and the Celtic Alliance.

Also, Prime Minister Patricia Mella resigned due to personal reasons. The Progressive Conservatives chose Len Simms as their new leader, who became the Prime Minister.

The Royal Navy Tour: 1993 to 1996
In March 1993, a task force of surviving ships from the Canadian Forces Maritime Command was launched to tour the rest of the world, amid protests from the Canada First Party. The fleet visited Portugal first, then proceded northeast and met with the Celtic Alliance in September. The fleet sailed around Scotland, and visited the Nordic Union next. The fleet doubled back without entering the Baltic, and headed down the English Channel. After reaching open seas, the fleet headed south to visit South America. The Canadian fleet met with Brazil in February 1994 and Argentina in April. The fleet rounded Cape Horn and visited several Pacific states, including and. Finally, the fleet arrived at Australia in October. The fleet stayed there for several months.

Back in Canada, an official hockey league, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) was set up in 1993, and an election was held as required by the Constitution once in five years in 1994. Len Simms won the election, keeping the post of Prime Minister. This election was the first to include the new Canada First Party. It was mostly unsuccessful, as they only won one seat, in a riding in Prince Edward Island.

In February 1995, the Canadian fleet left Australia just prior to its union with New Zealand. The fleet went northeast, with the intention of seeing what was happening in British Colombia. They reached Vancouver Island in June, and found primitive conditions. Having foreseen this possibility, the crew unloaded some extra food and supplies they had taken on in Australia and gave it to the survivors, and also offered to take some of them to the Remainder Provinces.

The fleet then travelled south to the damaged Panama Canal, and managed to get the ships through it. They then set course northward, and returned home to Canada. During this leg of the journey, they stopped several times on the former United States coast to pick up more refugees. The fleet arrived in November 1995, two and a half years after the beginning of their journey.

Tentative exploration: 1996 to 2000
In 1996, after increasing frequency of raids against Gaspé and other Québec cities, the government sent an expedition to the region just south of the Gaspé peninsula. This region was found to be ruled by bloodthirstly gangs which, though seemingly anarchic, were surprisingly well organised with each other. Further exploration had to be postponed because of danger to the explorers.

In 1997, Canada began making contact with survivors in southern New Brunswick and Maine. The survivors in north New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were at this time more well off, though governments had not been set up yet. An election in this year saw a new Prime Minister: Pierre Ducharme, the first post-Doomsday Prime Minister from the province of Québec. Ducharme is a Liberal, and had a majority government after this election. Under Ducharme, relations with Saguenay begin to improve, though he still refuses to recognise their state.

1998 and 1999 saw continued exploration, mainly into areas claimed by Nouveau-Québec and to Nunavut islands. An expedition in Hudson's Bay made contact with the coastal regions of this bay, and because of their accessability, they were soon de facto controlled by Canada. Expeditions were also sent to the coastal United States to provide surplus food and supplies.

In 1998, a second expedition to gang-controlled South Québec was sent to determine the extent of gang control. The expedition found that their control extended much farther than was previously believed.

Expansion: 2000 to 2004
By 2000, Canada had begun making more frequent inroads into the interior with the intention of asserting control over its claimed land. This exploration led to increased conflicts with the Republic of Saguenay, such as a nasty incident in 2004 (see below). 2000 also saw another election, with Ducharme gaining another majority government. The Canada First Party became the third most important party in this election, placing ahead of the New Democratic Party. An ANZC recon mission met with Prime Minister Ducharme and the Canadian government in this year.

Canada also considered sending some of its military to the to work alongside the Brazilians, French, and Europeans, but a possible threat from Saguenay and the southern gangs prevented any help from being given.

In 2001, with an increase of severity in the Gaspé raids, the Canadian military was enlarged and stationed many troops on the Gaspé peninsula. Unfortunately, the Saguenay took this as a threat of invasion, and the previously improving relations began to sour again. The army did, however, prevent most of the raids. In 2002, the Republic of the French Southern Territories asked the Canadian government to relinquish control over St. Pierre and Miquelon, stating that Canada was "taking care of (it) until its true government came". After discussion in the House of Commons, the Canadian government decided that St. Pierre and Miquelon should stay Canadian. This is the beginning of a dispute over the islands that continues to the present day.

A large gang raid in 2003 saw the death of several Canadians in the army. The raid was however defeated.

2004 to 2009
In 2004, a Canadian exploration expedition ran into a Saguenay patrol near the disputed northwestern border between Saguenay and Nouveau-Québec, leaving one Canadian dead and many wounded on both sides. This was a major topic in that year's election, in which the Canada First Party advocated immediate action against Saguenay. The Liberals advocated a more lenient approach. The Progressive Conservative Party took the middle position, wanting to keep a hard line towards Saguenay, though not direct action against them.

Pierre Ducharme won again, however he got a minority government. The Canada First Party formed the official opposition for the first time after the election, making the Progressive Conservatives a third party.

An expedition to the gang-held territory in 2005 disappeared without a trace in their territory. A second expedition was sent, and they found the leader of the gangs, who simply called himself, "le chef supreme". Evidence was found that the Republic of Saguenay may have been helping the gangs keep organised and armed for some reason, though the evidence was far from conclusive.

In 2006, Canada helped Nova Scotia to set up a government and it became the sixth province. Additionally, an election brought Ducharme another minority government, though a slightly better one.

In 2007 the government started sending agents into the gang-held southern Québec to destabilise their organisation and to investigate the claims of Saguenay involvement.

The was founded in 2007, with Canada as the only non-European founding member. The organisation is seen as the successor to NATO. The decision to join was a hard one, with the Canada First Party strongly opposed to it. The matter was put to referendum, and the Canadian people decided to join. In 2008 another international organisation, the, was formed. Canada joined as a founder, though the Canada First Party protested.

Current Events: 2009
In 2009 the, including parts of old Canada, made contact with the Canada Remainder Provinces. The eventual relationship between the two is still unknown.

The most recent expedition of exploration sailed down the St. Lawrence river in May and made contact with survivors around the river and Lake Ontario.

The Rest of Canada
Canada, or the Canada Remainder Provinces, claims all of the original ten provinces and two territories of old Canada. In reality, British Colombia, southern Québec, and Ontario are in a state of anarchy. Vancouver Island has been trading with the Republic of San Juan and other Pacific nations. The remnants of the Prairie provinces have organized a provisional government and are a members of the North American Union. It is still up in the air on what the relationship between this Canadian government and the Canada Remainder Provinces will be in the future since contact between the two is only recent.

The former territory of Yukon and the former province of British Colombia have been trading with, and there had been some talk of annexation by Alaska.

International relations
Canada became a part of the Atlantic Defense Community at its founding in 2007. In 2008, Canada was selected to the High Council of the League of Nations as the representative of North America.

There is an ongoing dispute between Canada and the Republic of the French Southern Territories since the Republic claims all French territory including the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Tensions are also high with the Republic du Saguenay, especially since the Canada Remainder Provinces claim the entire territory of old Quebec and Saguenay sees the CRP as the successors to the government who led Canada into the disaster that was Doomsday.

Government
The post-Doomsday government of Canada is similar to pre-Doomsday, however some changes were made. Firstly, the office of Governor-General was kept in a ceremonial role, but new Governor-Generals are now chosen by the previous Governor-General. The Governor-General still represents the Monarch of Canada, even though the Canadian government had not met any British royalty until contact with the Kingdom of Cleveland in 1998. The role of Deputy Governor-General was also created, which is the successor to the Governor-General in the event of death or resignation. The Deputy Governor-General is appointed by the current Governor-General.

The second change was the Senate reform of 1986. The Senate was altered to consist of elected representatives that would serve as a counterbalance to the House of Commons, and would actually exercise their power when they deemed necessary. The Senators are still ceremonially appointed by the Governor-General, but are actually elected.

The third change was the implementation of a form of direct democracy, in which every month Canadian citizens would hold referenda on large issues regarding the nation, while the details would be handled by the politicians. This change was made in 1989.

Political Parties
Before Doomsday, Canada had three major political parties: the Liberal Party, the Progressive Conservative Party, and the New Democratic Party. After Doomsday, the New Democratic Party gradually lost support, and the new Canada First Party started gaining support.

The Liberal Party (Parti libéral) has existed since Confederation in 1867, with several of the greatest Prime Ministers to its name: Wilfred Laurier, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Pierre Trudeau. As its name suggests, it follows the ideology of liberalism. The Liberal Party, under Pierre Trudeau, was in power in 1983, and is the current party in power under Pierre Ducharme.

The Progressive Conservative Party (Parti progressiste-conservateur) is the second oldest party, having been formed in 1942 as a successor to the former Conservative Party. Counting all of the Conservatives' previous incarnations, their most notable Prime Ministers include John A. Macdonald (the first Prime Minister) and Robert Borden. This party follows the ideology of conservatism. Their most recent Prime Minister was Len Simms.

The New Democratic Party (Nouveau Parti démocratique) is a more recent party, having been formed in 1961 as a unification of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress. This party has never formed the government of Canada on the federal level. The party's ideology is democratic socialism. In the years following Doomsday, it was the third most important party until the year 2000, when it was outpaced by the Canada First Party. Since the 2004 election it has had no representation in the House of Commons.

The Canada First Party (Parti de Primauté Canadienne) is the newest party, founded in 1991 after the visit by the USS Benjamin Franklin. The Canada First Party advocates isolation from international affairs and Canadian self-sufficiency. Currently holding the third highest amount of seats in the House of Commons, it has replaced the New Democratic Party in some respects.

Ridings
The country is divided up into ridings as it was before Doomsday. Each riding corresponds to a seat in federal parliament. There are twenty-seven total ridings, much less than the 282 ridings before Doomsday. Some have been split, some merged, and some left the same.

Canadian Provinces
This is a list of Canadian provinces and the date of reconfederation.

Additionally, Canada holds de facto control on the Hudson Bay coast of former Manitoba and Ontario, as well as the coast of the former New Brunswick, though these regions are not part of any province.

Saguenay
Canada hopes to one day convince Saguenay to join Confederation, though Saguenay is not interested as of now.

New Brunswick/Maine
Canada has made contact with this region, and the House of Commons has been debating setting up a government here. The has protested any Canadian expansion into American territory.

Ontario
This region is largely lawless, and is the hardest hit area in Canada. The most optimistic estimate of provincehood for this area is 2020.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Debates are ongoing with the Republic of the French Southern Territories. Their status now is a Canadian protectorate.

Hudson
"Hudson" is a proposed name for the coastal regions of Hudson's Bay that are under Canadian control. The main problems with this region is that it is sparsely populated. Churchill is a possible capital.

Federal District
There is some talk of creating a Federal District, either in St. John's, the current capital, or moving the capital so as not to favour Newfoundland.

Demographics
English is the main language in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, while French is the dominant language in Québec and some regions of Nouveau-Québec. Native languages, especially Inuktitut, are dominant in Nunavut (from which it is named) and in Nouveau-Québec. Refugees from bombed areas have also brough their languages, though since the main source of refugees is the United States, it mostly means more Anglophone inhabitants. However, bilingualism is supported throughout the country, and almost a quarter of the population is bilingual in English and French as of the 2006 census.

The ethnicities also vary, firstly with the pre-Doomsday immigration, though many of these immigrants lived in major cities, and consequently died. The population is mostly white. Native Americans inhabit mostly Nouveau-Québec and Nunavut, with some in Labrador.

Most of the refugees picked up by ships live in coastal cities, such as Charlottetown and St. John's. The Gaspé peninsula and Nova Scotia is home to some refugees who came over land. New Brunswick is also a popular destination, though it is not yet part of Canada proper. The most populous province by far is Newfoundland and Labrador.

Economy
Like many post-Doomsday countries, the economy of Canada is a survivor economy, designed to survive the many dangers of a post-apocolyptic world. One main problem is food. Early on, Newfoundland provided much food with its cod fisheries, but cod numbers had been steadily declining for decades due to overfishing, and fallout did not help them at all. Today cod fishing in Newfoundland is a thing of the past. Whaling in the north increased, though Canadians tried to keep a balance between the food required to survive and avoiding extinction of whales. Other sources of food are farms in the Québecs, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, especially the potato farms of the latter. Fishing of shellfish also alleviates the problem.

Canada does not have a critical shortage of fuel due to the natural gas reserves in the easily accessible Atlantic Ocean. Hydroelectricity is also used more and more frequently.