History of Canada (1983: Doomsday)

The history of  begins with the arrival of human beings thousands of years ago. Inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples, Canada has evolved from a group of French and British colonies into a bilingual, multicultural federation. sent the first large group of settlers in the 17th century, but ceded its territories in present-day Canada to Great Britain in 1763. The present constitution of Canada took effect in 1867, with three British colonies uniting as a single nation of four provinces. Canada gradually attained full independence from Britain during the 20th century. , however, drastically changed the history of the nation.

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, and the British Colombian coast also survived.

On Doomsday, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. She and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau escaped before the bombs hit, and were able to meet up with a group of Canadian military officers from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. One of these officers was Walter Natynczyk, the current Prime Minister of Canada and head of the Canada First Party. This group was able to make its way to Atlantic Canada. Sadly, Pierre Trudeau died during the journey.

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.

While this was going on, Margaret Thatcher and the Canadian troops with her arrived in this region. Realising that she would not be able to return to Britain soon, Thatcher decided to help with the creation of this new government.

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. Margaret Thatcher was chosen to hold this new post.

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, Margaret Thatcher, 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 formed the small, but vocal, Canada First Party.

In 1992 Canada reestablished official diplomatic ties with Portugal, the Nordic Union, and the Celtic Alliance. In this year Margaret Thatcher decided to step down as Governor General, saying that it should be a Canadian to hold the post.

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 a survivor state built from the remains of the former province, the. Since then, relations have been good between the two countries. Upon hearing of this Canadian survivor nation, Prime Minister Len Simms made a famous statement: "It brings tears to my eyes to know that our nation, Canada, truly streaches from sea to sea, even in the aftermath of the worst event in human history."

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 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. (See for more information.)

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. Explorers made contact with the government of in this year.

An election in this year saw a new Prime Minister: Jacques 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 began to improve, though he still refused 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.

International Involvment: 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.

Jacques 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.

Around this time contact was established with two states around the Great Lakes: the and. Both control regions in the pre-Doomsday province of Ontario, and thus relations have not been completely friendly with the two.

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 a majority government, with the rest of the seats split almost evenly between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canada First Party.

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.

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.

In June 2009, diplomats travelled to Canada. They brought news that their king, Prince Andrew, approved of their government, particularly their Governor-General system.

War with Saguenay

 * See main article:

Saguenay's Prime Minister Stéphan Tremblay was assassinated by a radical member of the Canada First Party on September 9, 2009. Saguenay declared war the next day, despite an offer of arbitration by the. offered support to Canada. Saguenay has already begun an amphibious assault on the Gaspe peninsula, which is fortified mainly against land strikes, not attacks from the sea. This has lead to speculation that Saguenay has a naval base nearby. The peninsula is now occupied by Saguenay.

An election on October 6 led to the first ever Canada First Party government. The Liberals lost many of their seats outside of the occupied Gaspe peninsula, whose mostly Liberal representatives were allowed to keep their seats. The new Prime Minister, Walter Natynczyk, promised to militarise Canada in response to the Saguenay invasion.