Victoria (1983: Doomsday)



The Republic of Victoria is a Canadian survivor nation centered on Vancouver Island in former British Columbia, and encompassing most of the BC coastline and the northern coast of Washington State.

Post-Doomsday
When the bombs fell, the 409 interceptor squadron out of CFB Comox was scrambled for defense. Their efforts managed to prevent strikes on 3 major targets in British Columbia: CFB Comox, CFB Esquimalt, and Victoria. Once contact with Ottawa and Vancouver was lost, Premier Bill Bennett ordered the Canadian Forces bases under Provincial jurusdiction. Parliament declared a state of emergency and halted all travel from Vancouver Island. Ferries currently on route to Tsawassen and Horseshoe Bay were lost in the rough waters resulting from the shockwave of the Vancouver bomb, as well as many towns on the eastern coast of the Gulf Islands being destroyed. Days afterwards the Bennett government ordered two ships out of CFB Esquimalt to scout the mainland coast to survey the damage. Vancouver was in ruins, and the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay was filled with the dead and dying due to its proximity to Vancouver. Tsawassen fared better as it was further south and the winds had carried the fallout inland towards the mountains, but was filled with refugees awaiting ferries to take them away from the devastation. Any remaining ferries were sent to Tsawassen to carry refugees to Swartz Bay and Duke Point where refugee camps had been set up to care for radiation poisoning and registration, as well as to get accounts of what had happened. Within 2 weeks approx. 100,000 refugees had arrived at the Duke Point and Swartz bay refugee camps and a single daily sailing was set up between Tsawassen and Duke point to transfer the trickle of refugees still coming in.

Plans were drafted to settle the refugees in the less developed areas of the west and north Island so as to reduce the amount of care required to concentrate on single areas and to serve the increased need for resource extraction. Expeditions were sent to re-establish contact with the rest of the BC coast and Washington State.

Conditions in relocation camps were less than hospitable, and the remote locations of some of them meant resources such as food and medicine took long periods of time to arrive. Riots started occurring frequently and the government response was to declare martial law in the camps. This caused considerable outcry among the established communities in Victoria and the refugee host communities.

Birth of the Republic
As an attempt to keep the traditions of democracy alive and to fight the rising unrest in several communities, and election was held on April 21st 1985. Due to a combination of the notion that the conservative policies of the Reagan presidency in the US, as well as Bill Bennett's mishandling of the new economy and refugee situation, the Social Credit party was defeated by the newly formed Social Survival Party. Party leader Edward Grant was sworn in as Premier and an era of intense change began. The SSP first seized the resource and utilities companies and put them under government control. They then established the Ministry of Social Projects(MSP) that oversaw work placement and public works construction projects. With Vancouver serving as the major shipping hub of BC, and Victoria lacking the space to expand, an new port began construction in Port Alberni. Realizing that BC's reliance on Tourism as its major industry was over, the Ministry of Public works saw to the conversion of many tourist towns such as Courtenay into manufacturing and farming centers to serve the needs of the people. The MSP's work placement program determined the skills of those without jobs or those in tourism jobs and re-placed them into appropriate positions and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, set up training programs for volunteers or those deemed to have aptitude in certain areas to be trained in needed positions.

While the policies of the SSP to many conservatives looked like Communism, the majority of the population saw the policies as needed in the current state of the world. BC needed to become self sufficient to survive without much of the outside world. Also, the SSP claimed that while definitely influenced by socialism, their policies were what they were elected on, and democracy was still an important part of the government.

In March 1986, the SSP MP from Vancouver Island North submitted a bill to Parliament suggesting that since contact with Canada had still not been established, and progress was being made to make the remnants of BC self sufficient, the final step should be made and the incorporated territories should be established as an independant nation. The bill was passed Oct. 2 1986 establishing the Republic of Victoria incorporating all the territories of Vancouver Island and the BC coast.

Constitution
While the Victorian Sovereignty Act of 1986 established the Republic of Victoria as an independant state, the rules and establishments of former BC and Canada were still in use. It was decided that as a new nation, a new Constitution was required. A Constitutional comittee was established to draft a constitution to be voted on by parliament. On June 23rd, 1987 a constitution was submitted. It contained these points:


 * 1) Government would continue to be a Constitutional Monarchy with ties continuing with the British royals
 * 2) The role of the Monarchy would be ceremonial and remain tied to the British Royals if they still live. Represented by a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the Premier on advice of Parliament
 * 3) Parliamentary system would remain. People choose representatives and the head of Government will be the leader of the majority party
 * 4) Electoral system will be a proportional system based on the % of popular vote. Each electoral district gets 10 seats in Parliament.
 * 5) Territory is split into the following electoral districts: Victoria Central, Victoria East, Victoria West, Nanaimo-South Island, Port Alberni-West Island, Comox Valley-East Island, Powell River-North Island, Prince Rupert-Queen Charlottes, Sunshine Coast.
 * 6) Elections will be held every 5 years in February.
 * 7) Victoria claimes Sovereignty over the former territories of the Province of British Columbia

A new flag was chosen representing the republic's ties to both the old British commonwealth, and former Canada.

Expansion and Contact
As the cities of Port Alberni and Courtenay grew with their new roles as Port and Manufacturing centers, the need for raw resources increased. It was decided that more of the interior of BC needed to be reclaimed in order to secure the resources of the area. Expeditions were sent from Prince Rupert and Powell River. While the Coast Mountains impeded the Powell River expedition, the Prince Rupert expedition instead found its progress halted by armed men denying them entry to lands of Prince George.

The Ministry of Social Projects started Oil exploration off the coast which was previously not allowed under the BC Provincial government, as these resources would be direly needed. Mining operations in northern Vancouver island were established where iron deposits were discovered, as well as Tin deposits just south of Prince Rupert.

While in the early days of the Republic, contact was maintained with Port Angeles in northern Washington state and the ferry linking the town to Victoria continued a limited run, the rest of the state was largely ignored. In 1989 Port Angeles and many of the surrounding towns approached the Victorian government with an association agreement. The agreed Washington territories would submit to Victorian authority in exchange for a degree of autonomy and aid in reconstruction efforts. The agreement was ratified on January 13th 1990 and the Washington Protectorate was established. The territories encompassing most of Clallum county were now under Victorian jurusdiction.

February 1990, second successful election held. Edward Grant's SSP maintains a majority government, with the Social Credit Party as the official opposition. The newly formed Liberal Capitalist Party obtains 3 seats.

In 1991 contact is made with the USS Benjamin Franklin, marking first contact with an outside government. This brought with it knowledge of the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand and the surviving American Provisional Administration.

As mining operations expanded and smelting facilities were established, the population of Prince Rupert and Port Hardy saw a boom, aided by refugee relocation.

February 1995, election is held resulting in another SSP majority.

On June 5th 1995 the Canadian Forces Maritime fleet arrived in Victoria, marking the first contact with the remains of a Canadian government. The day was met with celebration that Canada had survived. Canadian representatives offered the Victorian government the chance to rejoin Canada, but news of most of the land between Quebec and BC being lost to anarchy and smaller survivor states for the moment led Premier Grant to decline reconfederation at this time. Despite this setback, the mood remained positive. Premier Grant declared June 5th Recontact Day, and a national holiday. With this contact it was decided to send several ships from Esquimalt on diplomatic and exploratory missions. Contact is made with Alaska and several of the independant city states on the coast of Oregon and northern California. Contact was made with the survivors of the San Juan

islands and a rough alliance of cities including Bellingham and Mt Vernon calling themselves the North Washington Alliance who were just beginning to organize in response to rumors of threats from militants from Spokane. When the NWA discovered that Victoria had survived and was becoming a strong stable nation, they requested assistance in readying themselves for the threat to come. Negotiations began and within two months the territories encompassing Island county and the coast of Whatcom and Skagit counties were incorporated into the Washington Protectorate. Ferry service was resumed between Sidney, Friday Harbour, and Anacortes.A Patrol was sent out of CFB Comox to assess the situation in the interior of BC, it surveyed the devastation to Vancouver and the surrounding suburbs, Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, all destroyed by the blast, shockwave, or fallout. Even further inland, in Abbotsford, the fallout had left behind a ghost town. Finally the patrol landed in Kelowna, which managed to survive mostly, and form a rough confederacy referred to as the Okanagan Confederacy with the surrounding towns of Vernon, Penticton, West Bank, and further north in Kamloops. Unfortunately, due to the destruction of the Fraser Valley and the militants controlling Prince George, the Okanagan was isolated, unrest was building, and despite the best efforts of leaders, order was beginning to break down. Due to these same reasons as well as limited resources, it was deemed unrealistic, until the radiation cleared and some semblance of control could be exerted over the Fraser Valley, for the Victorian government to exert its authority over the Okanagan.

Major oil deposits are discovered near the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1997, a series of off shore platforms begin construction. Sandspit is chosen as the base for lodgings and construction, swelling the towns population. Natural Gas deposits are discovered in the Coast mountains near Powell River.

Fort Bennett was established near Mount Vernon to train militia and help create a permanent defense force for the region, as well as help stabilize the region after the influx of refugees from Seattle's outlying regions. A Ministry of Social Projects facility was opened to facilitate work placement and refugee relocation. An expedition was sent to secure the Skagit River Hydroelectric dams and maintain them to ensure a steady supply of power to the territories.

The large amount of public funds spent on building projects, increased military funding, reconstruction and stabilization efforts in the Washington territories, without stable foreign governments to borrow from causes skyrocketing inflation. Edward Grant steps down as leader of the SSP, replaced by the young charismatic Jacob Birch. SSP wins a minority government in the 2000 elections, marking the lowest point of their popularity since taking power in 1985.

Salvage Operations
In 2003 it was deemed enough time had passed to explore and salvage the ruins of Vancouver and Seattle. Contact was made with several more towns and incorporated into the Washinton Protectorate, notably Everett. Several salvage bases were established to facilitate the salvage operations: Early work in the cities was slow, the devastation was massive, roads were blocked by massive rubble piles from the surrounding buildings. The US military facilities in Bremerton were easier due to the lack of large buildings. Most of the facilities were destroyed but notable discoveries included a single damaged but operational Ohio class submarine, and a heavily damaged, but salvagable aircraft carrier beached nearby. These were removed to Esquimalt for refurbishing and the sub, dubbed the HMVS Vancouver was relaunched in 2005, while the carrier, dubbed the HMVS Ressurrection was relaunched in 2007.
 * Silverdale for the Bremerton military installations.
 * Edmonds for the Seattle area.
 * Ladner for the Vancouver area.

Contemporary Times
In 2004 as an attempt to halt the skyrocketing inflation, Premier Jacob Birch unveils a plan to abandon the dollar in favor of a new currency, allowing a fresh start. Along with this he plans to privatise many of the nationalised manufacturing companies while introducing a new labour code to ensure quality of life for the people. This move gives the SSP a surge of popularity, enough to win the 2005 election with an overwhelming majority. At this time the Social Credit party is nearly wiped out, retaining only 4 seats, leaving the Liberal Capitalists as the official opposition.

On June 1st, 2005, the Victorian Crown is adopted as the new currency, with denominations in 50, 20, 10, and 5 Crown bills, 1 Crown coins, and 50, 25, and 10 Mark coins making up the partial crown denominations.

Privatisation of the manufacturing industry increases competition and growth, which produces a major boom period of economic growth. Combined with the reliance on crown owned resource companies for raw materials, swells public coffers.In 2007 official diplomatic relations were established with the Municipal States of the Pacific.

In August of 2008, negotiations began with the Washington Legislative Assembly to integrate the territories into the republic, giving full rights and dividing the territory into two electoral districts. Opinions in the territories are split. A Referendum is scheduled for November 2009 on the matter.

October 2008, clearing of the Fraser River is completed and a force is sent up river to Chilliwack to take control of the area, secure CFB Chilliwack, and establish a waystation for access to the BC interior.

There is also a movement to approach the Republic of San Juan about joining Victoria.

With salvage operations in Washington going well along with the reconstruction and stabilisation of the Washington territories, a movement to claim more of Washington State starts to build, and in July of 2009 a delegation is sent to the MSP to negotiate a fixed border between territor ies to avoid conflict before the expansion of both states reach each other.

Recently there have been small skirmishes between the troops stationed at currently under construction Fort Elizabeth in Prince Rupert, and what is believed to be raiding parties from Prince George.

Goverment
The government of Victoria is a Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Republic. The head of State is the monarch's representative, the Lieutenant-Governor, who's duties include calling elections, and diplomatic relations. The head of Government is the Premier, who is the head of the majority party elected to parliament.

The electoral system of Victoria is a proportional system. Each electoral district is allotted 10 seats in parliament, and each of those 10 seats is determined by a percentage of the popular vote. The exception to this is the Washington Protectorate, which has their own Legislative assembly, which appoints a representative to parliament.

The Washington Legislative Assembly was established by the Protectorate Act of 1990. It is made up of a council of representatives from the major towns of the Washington Protectorate. They determine official policy of the Washington territories and appoint a representative to parliament.

Politics
There are currently 3 major political parties holding seats in the Republic of Victoria


 * Social Credit Party: A fiscal and socially conservative party, their policies have become for the most part unpopular among the populace. They were the party in power during the 1983 attacks.


 * Social Survival Party: A Social democrat party that was created from an amalgam of the New Democratic Party and several other socialist parties. They have remained in power since the founding of the republic.

Other minor parties include:
 * Liberal Capitalist Party: A libertarian party devoted to privatising nationalised industries and re-establishing contact with the outside world. Currently the official Opposition party.
 * Canadian Reunification Party: A single issue party advocating reconfederation with the Canadian Remainder Provinces.


 * Conservative 'Socialist Coalition: A social conservative, fiscal socialist party. Their opinions are quite militant, their popularity is growing in the rural areas of the Prince Rupert area.
 * Washington Unification Federation: A single issue party devoted to fully integrating the Washington Protectorate into Victoria, as well as claiming all of Washington State for the Republic. This party is gaining support in the Greater Victoria area, and the Western Washington Territories

Foreign Relations
The Republic of Victoria has made contact with several of the emerging governments in the days after Doomsday, but maintains official relations with only a few of them so far. There are currently ambassadors to Alaska, the MSP, ANZC, Republic of San Juan, and the Canadian Remainder Provinces. Relations with all are positive, but the situation regarding the proposed annexation of northern British Columbian towns by Alaska could cause some animosity between the two nations.

Military
Both CFB Comox and CFB Esquimalt survived the attacks of 1983 leaving Victoria with most of Canada's Pacific fleet and pacific maritime air patrol squadrons under their command. This leaves Victoria as a major naval power in the region as well as having a major air defence presence. The addition of the northern territories of the Washinton Protectorate gave Victoria control of the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. While many of the pilots and staff had moved on following the attacks, much of the aircraft and facilities remained.

The Social Survival Party government instituted a military incentive program, providing government housing and supplies for those enlisting in the Victorian military. This took advantage of the many refugees that had found themselves homeless and without work but ensured that Victoria had an ample defence and expeditionary force. The training facilities at Comox and Esquimalt ensured a highly trained naval and air force, but the lack of any Army training facilities and the destruction or isolation of the majority of the 39 Brigade leaves the majority of the Victorian Army with little training so far. Construction of Army facilities is ongoing, the major army installations being Fort Bennet in Mount Vernon, and Fort Grant in Duncan. A 3rd installation in being planned for Prince Rupert to defend against possible threats from Prince George as well as a staging point for a possible reclaimation of the Prince George territory.

Economy
The economy of Victoria is heavily socialised. While workers get paid for their work, most industries have been nationalised by the Ministry of Social Projects. Major industries include mining, farming, and manufacturing. The MSP official stance on the nationalised industries is that once stability and self sufficiency is established, privatisation will commence in order to rejoin the world economy.