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

On Thu, 10 Dec 1998, Adrian Johnson wrote:
> >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?).  

Quebecois. in english it is Quebeckers. Chretien pronounces this
QuebeckeRRRs.

> France tries to influence the EU to put pressure on Canada through
tariffs
> and import restrictions, but Britain and Germany block these measures,

and so the UK-FSE-NSL rift has its genesis.

> >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.

there could be a replay of the Suez crisis here - american troops seize
the seaway, but have to give it back amidst international scandal.

which brings me nicely to my next point ...

currently, if you want to move cargo from the north atlantic (usa,
europe
+ suez traffic) to the north pacific (usa, far east), you really have to
go via the panama canal. this puts a limit on the size of shiup you can
use - the so-called Panamax size, of ~ 70 kT. however, this is all set
to
change. global warming will melt some of the polar caps; this would open
up the northwest passage (round the top of canada) all year round, free
from the risk of icebergs. this is a deep-water route, so even the
biggest
ships can go through. the route is about the same length as the panama
route. thus, there is suddely a better route around north america; this
will become one of the main arteries of world ocean trade. this has to
be
figured into the analysis - halifax and vancouver will become endpoints
of
a huge trade route. this would strengthen canada's trading position.

> >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.

> THE NEW ANGLIAN 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.

basically, this works as it does in the uk now. in theory, the monarch
is
the chief executive, but in practice the prime minister is. in theory,
the
pm is chosen by the monarch on the advice of parliament. in practice,
the
pm is chosen by the parliament. the pm then chooses ministers.

> 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...

hmm. i like the world 'parliament' better than 'council'. how about
this:
all the member states of the NAC - england, scotland, wales, canada, new
england, california, etc - have a parliament or assembly, which works as
a
local government. the body for the whole of the NAC is the House of
Lords.
this runs mostly like the canadian senate, a bit like the british HoL.
each state has some quota of peers in the house, and whenever a seat
falls
vacant, the state (the local parliament or first minister, depending on
local practice) nominates a successor. the house of lords has a lot of
NACish flavour about it - i think it's worth keeping. "the speaker
recognises the Earl of Tucson" etc.

a house of lords made up in this way would be relatively stable - it
would
not change with every election - and somewhat immune to the swings and
roundabouts of the media circus (image is irrelevant as they are not
elected). since most actual lawmaking is done at the level of local
parliaments, the house of lords has no major legislative function. laws
are harmonised across the nac by way of quadrennial legal conventions,
where member states negotiate common legal setups. the HoL would mostly
be
a talking shop and advisor to the prime minister. being experienced
(most
will have come from state politics), they are also very good at making
technical laws, in such areas as finance, etc (this is true of the house

of lords today). it also allows for long-running political infighting -
always good in fictional backgrounds!

> 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.

the problem here is one of differing sizes. england has a much larger 
population than scotland or wales. i think it makes sense for britain to
join as a whole, with the former usa split into about three parts (i
would
guess new england, the great lakes and the plains, although i'm not sure
where the south-east fits in; maybe four divisions?). this gives state
governments more clout and makes the fact that the HoL is unelected less
important. the NAC capital (palace, seat of HoL, etc) then rotates
between
the state capitals (london, ottawa, washington, boston, milwaukee or
whatever). the civil service stays put and is spread out all over the
NAC
(the treasury is in london, the home office in ottawa, ministry of
defence in washington, etc).

> 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).

sounds about right. note that none of these things involve particularly
contentious legislation, so the HoL won't get in many big public
arguments. the cabinet, on the other hand, will.

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

right. thus, the uk hangs on to the NHS, whilst new england continues in
its heathen private healthcare ways.

> 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.

we have a lot of practice with this in wales. all road signs, government
forms, etc, are bilingual. welsh roads have a lot of blind turns, so
'araf' (slow) and 'arafwch' (slow down) are the two words of welsh known
by many britons.

it'd be the same in mexico. given that english is the de facto
international language, and the language of trade, engineering, science
(ie success in general),the number of english-speakers in other
countries
will continue to rise. by the time south america is absorbed into the
NAC,
most people will speak english as a second language.

> 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

a constitution? never! the nac would have no real constitution, just a
set
of treaties on which everything is founded. no-one is really sure what
the
legal basis of the state is.

> 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 think avalon would gain member-state rights, with its own palace,
parliament, first minister and peers in the house of lords. the other
worlds would be governed as dependent territories, like the falklands.

> I hope those who've taken the time to actually read through all this
have
> found it to be worth the effort!

absolutely! excellent stuff.

Tom