Re: [FT][SG][DS] Canada, the US Civil War II, and the structure of the NAC (really long)

Hello All...

I've been tossing about a few ideas on what might happen to Canada in
the
GZG timeline - and being prompted to respond by Jonathan Jarred's
comments
- I threw down a whole bunch of ideas all at once.  Given that much of
my
commentary on Canada was prompted by responses to Jonathan's comments,
I've
left his comments in place - to show what I was responding to...

For those who are more interested in how the NAC might work, there is
commentary on that at the bottom of this post - my thoughts on where
Canada
might go led naturally into the NAC.  I think my commentary on the NAC
and
its formation and structure are applicable to the NAC in its initial
formative years - maybe other people will leap in and contribute what
they
think about where it would go from here...

>> 
>> But what would we (Canada) really stand to gain by subsuming our 
>> nation into a giant version of the UK, run (at least initially) by
and 
>> for London?	I'm sure it wouldn't have happened that way.  
>
>It's been a while since I looked at the GZG timeline so this may be in
>conflict, but how about a scenario like this:
>
>Early next century, Quebec finally manages to secede from Canada, badly
>disrupting the economies of both Canada and the newly independent
>Quebec.  Ill-feeling over the breakup causes both countries to raise
>massive trade barriers against each other.  France then makes things
>worse by pressuring the EU to raise barriers against Canada in order to
>support the Quebecoi(sp?).  

Early next century, the Quebecois vote for seccession from Canada in a
referendum. The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that following a vote
for
independence, Canada is legally and morally bound to negotiate in good
faith with Quebec.  Quebec and Canada, after two years of careful and
sometimes heated discussions, agree upon a division whereby Quebec gains
nominal independence, but retains the Canadian dollar as its currency,
enacts a national defense agreement with Canada, and guarentees free
passage to Canadians through Quebec territory, primarily so that the
Maritime provinces are not completely cut off.	The markets both
internationally and within Canada react at first with great trepidation,
and the Canadian dollar drops to an all-time low of $0.50 US on the
world
market, causing the beginnings of a recession in both Canada and Quebec.
Both nations move quickly to prevent economic meltdown, and issue a
joint
declaration emphasizing the political stability of the new situation. 
The
US, Canada, Mexico and the newly independant Quebec enter into
discussions
aimed at bringing Quebec formally into the North American Free Trade
Agreement.  There is some resistance in the US Congress, but president
Gore
and the Democratic majority in both houses, riding high on their massive
landslide victory following widespread public protests at the
Republican-engineered impeachment of popular former President Clinton,
passes the proposed amendments to NAFTA without much trouble.  

France tries to influence the EU to put pressure on Canada through
tariffs
and import restrictions, but Britain and Germany block these measures,
having seen the results of seccession-turned-bad throughout the Balkan
states.  The British Foreign Secretary states that "We can not allow
France
to be the cause of conflict among two of our most valued allies.  The
peoples of both Canada and Quebec have paid in blood for the freedoms we
enjoy in Europe today, and we can do nothing less than give them our
full
support as they resolve their differences peacefully.  The EU cannot be
allowed to become a platform for France to advance its agenda of
promoting
Francophone culture, particularly at the expense of the peace and
stability
of our closest friends."

The economic situation in Canada and Quebec stabilizes, particularly
after
a mutually satisfactory division of the national debt is realized, and
the
Canadian dollar begins a climb...

>
>Additionally, the breakup casts the entire Canadian union into doubt. 
>Relations between Quebec and the U.S. also quickly sour, with Quebec
>periodically disrupting trade along the St. Lawrence Seaway over
various
>real and imagined slights.

Relations between Quebec and the US stabilize after Quebec joins NAFTA,
and
the US welcomes the newly created Quebec Air Force into NORAD (the North
American Aerospace Defence organization).  Quebec does not cause any
disruptions along the St. Lawrence Seaway, because it relies heavily on
unimpeded access to US markets for its economic stability.

>
>The Maritime Provinces (which have already petitioned for U.S.
>annexation several times, finally get their way (the U.S. wants to be
>able to put pressure on Quebec from both sides, and decides the
>additional economic burden will be worth it).	Amid the wrangling over
>whose fault the continueing breakup is, the Plains provinces follow
>suit, leaving a sort of rump Canada composed of Ontario and the
>Northwest provinces which is no longer even geographically contiguous.
>

When certain groups in the Maritime provinces suggest that they be
annexed
by the US, clearer sense prevailed.  The US government had no desire to
be
saddled with a large, sparsely populated and economically depressed
area,
and though sympathetic to the problems Canada was now facing, would not
agree to annexation.  The Canadian federal government had no interest in
seeing more of the country lost, and in a rare moment of
provincial-federal
cooperation, a compromise plan was worked out.	The four Maritime
provinces
would be joined into one large region, with a single government
structure
based in Halifax.  This would eliminate much of the inefficient
duplication
of services in the small provinces, and subsequent cost savings.  The
area
was seeing an increase in its economy through an influx of high
technology
firms taking advantage of the low costs of doing business and well
educated
workforce (a-la Ireland).  A consortium of major shipping companies in
the
US and Canada awarded the contract to build the new central East Coast
shipping complex in Halifax - since Halifax has the only good major deep
water protected harbour North of Florida.  This becomes the central
shipping hub for all of the North East, and the subsequent influx of
economic development has side benefits for the entire maritime region.

>After a few more years, Ontario, its economy battered from isolation,
>finally gives in and joins the United States, leaving only BC, and the
>orphan NW Territories as 'Canada'.
>

After a few more years, the economic situation in Canada has stabilized,
relations between the provinces and the Federal government have become
easier in the wake of the shakeup that resulted from Quebec's
separation,
and the joint economic agreements with Quebec seem to be working well.

>Tensions between the newly-enlarged U.S. and Quebec continue, now being
>extended to France and the French-aligned members of the EU. 
Meanwhile,
>regional differences in the U.S. are exacerbated by the ongoing
>linguistic and cultural Balkanization of the south and southwest
regions
>of the U.S.  The influx of former Canadians, with first-hand experience
>of what too much multi-culturism can lead to, support a backlash which
>reverses decades of bilingual policies.  The Official Language Act
>(making American-English the sole language of the land) is finally
>passed.  Unfortunately, this attempt at unifying policies is worse than
>too late.
>

Tensions between the US and its North American partners increase as
regional differences and cultural Balkanization of the south and
southwest
regions leads to widespread public unrest and eventually violent
conflict.
Conservative religious movements in much of the central and south-east
areas add to the destabilizing forces with strong anti-Hispanic,
anti-Immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Liberal sentiment - leading to the
enactment of State statutes in several areas directly violating Federal
law.  Canada and the other North American states watch as the US
devolves
into civil war.  Mediation efforts by Canadian diplomats, experienced
with
the successful integration of multi-cultural policies in Canada offer to
help, but are soundly rejected by the US Federal Government - itself
nearly
frozen in confusion over how to deal with the seemingly uncontrollable
conflicts. 

>Thus, when the Second American Civil War rips the continent apart a few
>decades later, most of what we now consider Canada was directly
>involved.  Only the Canadian Northwest (industrialized now thanks to
the
>influx of Hong Kong capital and its connections with china and Great
>Britain) is undamaged. The survivors were left with driving need for a
>unifying cultural and political influence to unite the shattered
>factions.  At the same time, Great Britain sees an opportunity to get
>out from under a French and German-dominated EU.  
>

When the Second American Civil War rips the country apart along
cross-cultural and geographical seams, Canada, Mexico and Quebec
reinforce
their borders with the US and sit back to watch what happens.  The
Canadian
government calls up the entire military reserve, begins a program of
recruitment to expand the forces on a wide scale, and requests aid from
the
British and German governments, both of whom have large military
training
establishments in the Prairie provinces and in Labrador.  The German
government allows its forces to help with resettling the massive numbers
of
refugees flowing north across the border including policing resettlement
camps, but only the British government allows its troops to join the
Canadians in patrolling the border areas.  

The Civil War destroys much of the US infrastructure, with several major
cities in California and Texas falling to nuclear attack by renegade
Army
and Airforce Generals allied to the Fundamentalist Christian Coalition.
There is a pause around the world in shock at the horrific spectre of
nuclear war, and the rump government of the US, now controlling only the
North-East area but still recognized as the legitimate government by the
UN, requests immediate aid in ending the conflict and helping the
survivors.  By this time, the British and Canadian governments have
assembled a large military force in staging areas along the border, and
these forces immediately begin to deploy into the US.  Joint British and
Canadian landings in Georgia and South Carolina are fiercely opposed by
FCC
forces, but after the previous years of tough conflict during the Civil
War, these forces are worn down and have little equipment remaining in
good
condition.  The fresh foreign troops, landing in large numbers with new
equipment and massive air superiority, have little trouble defeating FCC
and the various local warlords ruling the region.  Within weeks, British
and Canadian troops have deployed through almost all of the US, begin
restoring order and start providing humanitarian relief.  The areas
destroyed by nuclear weapons and suffering from fallout are given
special
attention, with NBC teams from many nations including Japan and Russia
providing additional support.

>Despite opposition from France and a Germany that sees opportunity in
an
>economically prostrate North America, Britain manages to shame the EU
>into providing large amounts of aid to rebuild the U.S., helped at
first
>by Europeans who feel this will finally repay the Americans' efforts
>following the Second World War.  This sentiment doesn't last long once
>the true scale of the necessary effort becomes apparent, but Britain
>perseveres, with the vigorous members of the new generation of the
Royal
>Family (which I have to assume has somehow retreived its reputation in
>Britain already by this point) taking an active and highly visible
part.

Despite initial opposition from France, Spain and Italy who see an
opportunity in keeping the US out of the international market, Britian
and
Germany convince the EU to provide large amounts of aid to help rebuild
the
US - helped at first by Europeans who feel that this will finally repay
the
Americans' efforts following the Second World War.  There is a certain
cynical edge to this support, since many Europeans also feel that the US
never hesitated to advance its own agenda by reminding the Europeans of
the
debt owed it - and these same Europeans now wonder if the situation
could
be reversed, with Europe dominating the relationship with a rebuilt US.
The German government is very uncomfortable with the direction being
taken
by the French, Spanish and others, but is not willing to break with them
directly as it is still trying to maintain cohesiveness within the EU. 
The
UK, however, with the strongest ties to the US and long historical
positive
relationship with its former colony, feels much resentment at this
underlying cynicism among its fellow Europeans.  As the true costs of
rebuilding the US become apparrent, and one after another the European
nations start to back out of the aid plans or reduce their
contributions,
the UK's ambivalent feelings toward Europe become stronger.  Some
historians see this period as the beginnings of the fractures in the EU
that eventually lead to the split between the French and the Germans,
which
led to the formation of the FSE and the NSL.

>
>The Mainstream Culture movement in the American Remnants fastens on the
>Royal Family as the unifying symbol they have been looking for.  One by
>one, most of the American (and former Canadian) Remnants join the new
>NAC, with only California (and Texas?) refusing.  Anti-monarchical
>sentiment in Texas is just too strong, and both regions have culturally
>moved into the Hispanic/Central American sphere of influence anyway. 
>(Does anyone know what the official language in California Free State
>is?)  Maine and Florida also hold out for a while, but economic
>realities soon force their submission.
>

Rebuilding the United States' infrastructure is a simple engineering
problem compared with the extremely complex and sensitive issue of
trying
to recreate a cohesive society among recently warring groups.  A flow of
former refugees who spent the war in relative contentment hosted in
Canada
starts back into the US, bringing with them the positive feelings
developed
toward Canada and the UK.  

The conflict between the UK and the rest of Europe over the rebuilding
costs of  the US comes to a head, just as leaders in North America are
searching for some means of unifying the disperate groups in the US. 
The
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs suggests a plan whereby the states
of
the former US, Canada, Quebec and the UK join together in a political
association based on a common history and shared culture, shared
language
and shared interests - with the Crown as the unifying head of the new
Confederation.	Quebec and the largely Hispanic areas in the former US
are
at first hesitant due to cultural and language issues, but when assured
that provision would be made to protect the Spanish and French languages
and cultures as integral founding elements of the new Confederation,
they
agree to join - seeing the advantages of being part of a large protected
market framework in a world dominated by large trading blocks in Europe
and
Asia.

The New Anglian Confederation, as it quickly comes to be known, is
formed
officially by acts of the various member governments - Quebec, Canada,
the
UK, the rump US government representing the North-East, and the various
state governments in the remainder of the US.  Much of the US is
organized
under the direct administration of Canadian, UK or US military forces
who
organize civilian elections to recreate the state legislatures - which
represent the people of the state during the formation of the NAC.  

THE NEW ANGLIAN CONFEDERATION

Head of State

The Crown - embodied in the personage of the reigning monarch - head of
the
House of Windsor, and King or Queen of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland
(it reunited and rejoined the Commonwealth), Canada and the associated
members of the Commonwealth - and now Confederation

Executive Body:

The Confederation Prime Minister and Cabinet - all of whom are members
of
the Confederation Council.  The Prime Minister is formally appointed by
the
Monarch, chosen from a list presented to the Monarch by the Speaker of
the
Council.  In practice, the Council votes on the names to be submitted on
the list presented to the Monarch, and the Monarch traditionally chooses
the senior choice of the Council.  Normally, the process of politics
among
the membership of Council will have determined who will be chosen and
the
Monarch's reaction well before the voting takes place.	The Prime
Minister
appoints a cabinet of Ministers to assist her/him in the administration
of
the Confederation Government - with Cabinet members heading the various
government ministries.

Legislative Body:

The Confederation Council - Composed of representatives of the states
making up the Confederation.  Council members are elected in popular
elections, similar to the way EU parliament members are elected in
Europe.
Each region or state determines how its public will vote for its Council
seats.	Representation on Council is limited to a maximum of twenty
members
per area/state.  Each has a minimum of 10 seats, and up to 10 more
depending on population size - though some effort is made at the
formation
of the NAC to see that the various areas are roughly equivalent in terms
of
population and thereby representation in Council.  The founding members
did
not want to start with a gross imbalance...

Confederation Membership:

The New Anglian Confederation is composed, initially, of the United
Kingdom, Canada, Quebec and the former United States.  The United States
is
broken up into several large parts, based on common historical, cultural
and geographical   factors.  The old State organization of the US is
disolved, with several exceptions: The new areas include New England,
The
Great Lakes Region, The Carolinas, Florida, Texas, California, the South
West, the Rocky Mountain States, and the Great Central Plains.	Each
area
is organized as a larger version of what the States once were.	In
Canada,
the three Prairie provinces join to form a single large Western province
-
and Canada is then reduced to four provinces and three territories
(British
Columbia, Ontario, the Maritimes, the Prairies, and the Yukon, North
West
and Nunavut Territories).  Quebec joins on its own.  A widespread debate
begins within the UK as to how it will join the new organization.  After
previous decades of devolution of powers to the various member countries
of
the UK, there is much interest in Ireland, Wales and Scotland in joining
the NAC independantly and doing away with the UK government all
together.
The UK government argues that joining together will give them greater
clout, but "nationalistic" interest prevails in the end and Scotland,
Ireland, Wales and England join the NAC independantly as the UK
government
disolves itself.

Confederation Areas of Government

The NAC Government is granted powers in several areas.	It has control
over
foreign affairs, international trade, national defense, national banking
and financial stability, the NAC Supreme Court, and coordinates
standards
organizations (such as those that govern weights and measurements, set
educational guidelines, set health care guidelines, set
telecommunication
standards, and so on).	There is a separate Royal Auditors and Ombudsman
organization that reports directly to the Monarch and exists separately
of
all other governmental agencies.  Its role is to provide a completely
independant and impartial view of government operations at all levels,
and
enable public confidence in the government by keeping it honest...

The member "states" (ie Canada, New England, Scotland) have control of
health care, education, public works, natural resources, immigration,
cultural policy, etc.

Language, Cultural and Religious Rights in the Confederation

(The "official" picture:)

Due to the variety of backgrounds in the constituent members of the
Confederation, and as a means of generating confidence in Quebec and the
Hispanic areas of the former US toward joining, the NAC adopts a policy
of
recognizing official language rights for the major minority groups. 
While
the official spoken language of the Monarchy and NAC Council is English,
the NAC government and Supreme Court are required to provide all
services,
publications, etc and publish all laws, policies, decisions and so on in
English, French and Spanish.  Each of the NAC member states/regions is
encouraged to follow this lead and provide services in the three
languages.
 In practice, the areas with significant population groups in one of the
official minority languages provide services in those languages - while
areas with unilingual population groups tend not to.   

All founding members of the NAC remember the results of
racial/cultural/religious conflict seen in the radioactive ruins of
American cities - and there is a broad based support for greater public
tolerance.  This is enshrined in the NAC Constitution, and the NAC
government strongly enforces where necessary the provisions for official
tolerance.  Religious and political groups advocating discrimination are
marginalized.  

The New Anglian Armed Forces

The largest branch of the NAC government, the New Anglian Armed Forces
is
composed of ...

At this point I'm going to stop - though I've more ideas, I want to get
other people's thoughts on this going...  The armed forces is the bit
that
most directly interests us, obviously, so I'm interested in what
everyone
else thinks!

The next "chapter" beyond that would be entitled "The NAC Off Earth" and
would discuss how the Confederation changes as it grows into an
interstellar organization.  The capital moves to Avalon and it grows
with a
number of colony worlds and colony provinces on jointly held worlds. 
How
does this affect the way the NAC operates?

I hope those who've taken the time to actually read through all this
have
found it to be worth the effort!  I'll enjoy any and all comments that
come
of it.

Adrian