TAGU - Ontario-Quebec Minigame (Political Sim)

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

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[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

PARTIES

ONTARIO
LABOUR-PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE
Formed out of an alliance between the Labour Party, and the United-Farmer dominated Progressives, this party is Ontario's Social Democratic party. The LPA can be thought of as like our modern day NDP.

LIBERAL PARTY
The Liberal Party is Ontario's centrist middle of the road party, which has a tradition of working with parties from Quebec more easily than either the LPA or the Tories. The nickname for the Liberals is the Grits.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY
The Conservatives are Ontario's right-wing pro-business party. The party also holds on to socially conservative viewpoints. The nickname for the Conservatives is the Tories.

QUEBEC
PARTI LIBERTAIRE
The Libertarian Party is Quebec's party of small government. The Libertarians are more apt to fight for somewhat populist causes.

PARTI VERT
The Green Party is Quebec's pro-environment party. The Greens have been willing to work with various Ontario parties and have a reputation for this.

PARTI QUEBECOIS
The Quebeckers Party is Quebec's party of big government. The PQ is considered by some to be elitist, and has opposed direct democracy in the past.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

I'm always interested in a good polsim, but I'd like a little more history before I commit to anything.

[Bacon King]

I'm always interested in a good polsim, but I'd like a little more history before I commit to anything.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

Sorry for the not being aroundish.

Changes:
http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?authuser=0&vps=3&hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=214668381355121949879.0004aa735815d45a80e7e

The first change was that Canada never went to the maritime union conference in Charlottetown.

Maritime Union was successful. PEI, NS, and NB joined into a new colony called New Scotland. This colony began to market itself towards Scottish settlers. This was successful. As a result, Irish settlers began to favour Newfoundland due to elimination.

As a result of a lack of a coast-to-coast Canada, the USA won the 54'40" or fight battle.

Alaska ends up including the Yukon, and Northern BC.
Washington and Oregon are different. Idaho as well as eastern Washington is part of Oregon, whereas BC (south of 54'40") is part of Washington, who's capital, is Vancouver (the one that's in Canada IRL)

Rupert's Land and the North West Territory, were joined by the UK into Assiniboine, which has a few million people, it's Capital is in the settlement formerly known as York Factory, known today as Riel City, after Louis Riel who is seen as the father of the nation.

The border between the USA and Assiniboine, at least in the western part, is the great divide.

Canada has been able to take up the northern parts of what is today Ontario and Quebec. In addition, Labrador is a part of Quebec.


More on the histories of Newfoundland and New Scotland, later.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

New Scotland, as mentioned, ended attracting a lot of Scottish settlers. As a result, Irish, and even French settlers left the area. Acadians left for Quebec, some for Ontario, and a few for Assiniboine. The Irish went to Newfoundland, and that colony was willing to play up it's Irish heritage to gain even more support for Irish settlers. Irish Catholics settled mostly in the Avalon area, whereas Irish Protestants ended up settling in the remainder of the Island.

In 1918, there was great debate about weather Newfoundland should support the newly independent nation of Ireland, with many supporters in Avalon supporting this idea. There was even talk of separating Avalon from the rest of Newfoundland and making it alone a part of Ireland. Eventually, both ideas faded away.

When the Great Depression hit, many things changed. New Scotland was broke, as was Newfoundland. The latter decided to turn to the UK for help, while New Scotland held a referendum on weather to turn to the UK (44.5%) to the USA (41.1%) or to Canada (14.3%) was not won by a majority, so a further vote was held, and it was decided that New Scotland would join the USA (52.3%) rather than the UK (47.7%) As a result, New Scotland was admitted as a new State on January 1st 1937, and elected it's first members to Congress (1 Democrat and 1 Republican to each the House and the Senate) on the same date.

At the same time, the idea that Avalon should just off and join Ireland became popular once more. When WW2 broke out, the US feared that the Germans could convince Ireland to form an alliance, and, using popular support, use Avalon as a base. The Americans thus convinced the UK to give up not only Northern Ireland, but also Newfoundland, to Ireland. The UK sold Labrador to Canada in 1942, and in the same year, Newfoundland as well as Northern Ireland, joined Ireland. Following the war, many Protestants in both Ulster and Newfoundland felt betrayed. These groups would mount a Terrorist Campaign that only ended in the 90's when Ireland created 5 provincial assemblies; Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Ulster, and Newfoundland. Each had it's own assembly. Unionists were guaranteed positions in government due to a convoluted system that established these provinces, which gave Cabinet seats to any party reaching over a certain level of vote.

The result of this in 2011:

New Scotland is part of the USA, a State with over 2 million people, and not much "French" in it, more than you'd find in Maine or Vermont. The State even provided one Vice President, in Robert Stanfield, who after finishing second in the 1968 Republican convention to Nixon, was picked by Gerald Ford to serve as his VP until 1976, when he was replaced on the ballot by VP nominee Bob Dole (who went on to lose). Stanfield was seen as a very close ally of Nelson Rockefeller, and is seen as one of the paramount "Rockefeller Republicans"

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

Other Countries:

Ireland
Ireland is divided into 5 provinces. Newfoundland, with a population of half a million. Connacht, with a population that is similar. Munster, with a population of over a million. Ulster, with two million. And Lienster, with a population of two and a half million; with half of those living in County Dublin. The Island of Ireland is divided into 32 counties. Newfoundland is divided into two county-like subdivisions called Parishes, one, Avalon, covers the Avalon Penninsula, and the other, Bonavista, covers the remainder of the island. Bonavista is largely Protestant, while Avalon is Catholic.


The current Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is Danny Williams who is from Newfoundland. The country as it is today was united in 1943. For the first four decades, no Unionists (those loyal to the crown of the Union, or, the United Kingsom) took their seats. This changed in the 1987 election when Oliver Napier, a soft Unionist, took his seat of Belfast East. This marked the first sign of the end of 'The Troubles' where Unionist and Loyalist paramilitaries carried out terrorist acts. The creation of the UPU in Newfoundland in the 90's, and the leadership of that group by Ian Paisley eventually lead to a peace deal being signed that saw the creation of powerful provincial assemblies, and forced power sharing. Since that time, in the 1997, 2002, and 2007 elections, the UPU has ranged from 20 to 30 seats in the 180 seat Dail. The 2011 election saw Danny William's party, Fine Gael, take 61 seats. Williams, who is a Protestant from Bonavista, has a coalition government with the UPU, something which he has maintained during this entire term in office. His main political challengers are Fianna Fail at 62 seats, and Labour at 21.

Dealing with Ireland can be difficult. Protestants in Bonavista have at time floated the idea of joining Canada. Williams, however, has been very anti-Canadian in his rhetoric. Due to the sensitive nature of politics in Ireland, and, the position that Canada unfortunately has in aggravating it, the two nations have a relationship that is described as "icy"



United States
Not much has changed here from the reality we know. New Scotland is a small state with a little over 2 million people, and Washington is a large state with a population of 12 million. Vancouver is known as one of the more left-wing cities in the country, along with other "left coast" cities like San Francisco.



Assiniboine will be dealt with in the next post, as well as details about the history of "Canada" and how it came to be as it is.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

I'll wait for the details on Canada (and perhaps some on how the game will actually be played) before getting into specifics, but I'd like to claim an Ottawa riding as a member of the Liberal Party.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

Note that I'm making a slight change to make the game more fun to play. Assiniboine was originally going to be underpopulated, and thus, unable to make use of it's oil reserves. I'm changing this, to make Ruperts Land, and the North West Territory to have never united!!!

NOTE THAT THE MAP IN THE FIRST POST HAS BEEN EDITED TO REFLECT THE CHANGES!



Assiniboine.

Canada never became the country we know today, and as a result, Ruperts Land was never given to Canada.

The UK administered this land though the HBC, and were unable to put down Riel's Rebellion. The government and Riel negotiated a peace that saw a great deal of independence given to the local Metis and Native populations. Assiniboine thus became a magnet for natives and "american indians" to settle in, while others from Europe - notably Scandinavians and eastern Europeans, also settled here. While the Capital remained in the far north, Winnipeg quickly became the largest city and business centre.

Today the non-federal nation has nearly 12 million people. Half are Metis; a definition which was expanded to include any mixed Native-European person, not just French. One quarter are native, a mix of various tribes from all across North America who settled here for freedom. One quarter, are European, with half being from Eastern or Scandinavian Europe, and the remainder equally from Scotland, Ireland, and England. The nation is bi-lingual, favouring French over English, but both languages are thought in school, and 98% of those under 35 speak both languages fluently.

the country is extremely environmental, with both governing parties; the Assiniboine Party and the Freedom Party, being part of the international federation of Green Parties.  The largest city is Winnipeg, which has over 2 million people, and Riel City, which has 300,000 and is the largest city this far north in North America, larger than Anchorage. The remainder of cities in Assiniboine are less than 200,000 people, and are scattered throughout the nation.

Assiniboine has very close ties with Canada, and the Freedom Party has mulled over the idea of a national referendum on joining Canada, while the Assiniboine Party, which is to the left of the Freedom Party, opposes this idea.

There has been a great deal of cross immigration between the two nations, and the two nations are sometimes said to share one of the longest undefended borders in the world; but this same claim is made about Assiniboine's border with the British Arctic, it's border with the USA, and the latter's border with Canada.

Assiniboine is considered a pioneer in clean extraction of Oil and Gas products. It extracts only enough for it's own domestic use, and does so in an environmentally friendly manner.




British Arctic

The British Arctic is one of the last "Colonies" of the UK, and certainly one of the largest. Stretching from Jasper in the Rocky Mountains to Alert near the North Pole, it is huge. The Territory also suffers from extreme under-population, having a grand total of 45,000 citizens. Recent scientific breakthroughs have allowed the oil "tar sands" located in the territory to be exploited, but the territory does not have the population or the governmental will to extract these resources. This has become a sticking point with the United States who proposes annexation in order to allow it to extract the resources itself. There are already 10,000 American workers in the area working on extracting the oil, and there is fear that allowing more in will allow the USA to outnumber the citizens, and use some kind of "democracy" that allows non-citizens to vote to force the territory into American hands. This is further aggravated by the 5,000 US soldiers who were stationed in the Territory during the Cold War, who remain. The US case was not helped when in 1987, a lone Congressman suggested also annexing Canada. Maps were drawn up showing both as part of the US, drawn as a mouth closing around Ruperts Land; in an attempt to "Swallow North America Whole!"

Further complicating the situation was a map that was released to the public in 1991, drawn some 100 years ago, showing a UK proposal to divide the territory between Ruperts Land and the USA. The line, drawn in an Orange that had long since faded, became known as "The Yellow Line" and sparked controversy as it would reward all the oil-rich areas to Ruperts Land.

Canada maintains a Diplomatic Liaison in the Capital City of the territory, London England.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

What's with the split of Baffin Island?

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

CANADA

After the unfortunate death of John A Macdonald in 1863 from alcohol poisoning, the idea of all British colonies in North America uniting dropped off the radar. It was rather John S MacDonald who held the office of Premier, (which he changed the name of) and made some administrative changes who is seen as one of the fathers of the nation. MacDonald would remain retire from Cabinet in 1896, but would MP until his death in 1911 at the age of 98. His last words were reportedly "Thank God I never suffer from tuberculosis".

His successor as Liberal leader would be Wilfrid Laurier from Quebec. Laurier served, on and off both as Prime Minister, and Premier (Deputy Prime Minister), and often times would alternate in office with the Conservative Robert Borden. One time serving as his Deputy during an attempted and short lived national unity government. Following this, the Labour-Progressives were able to win government. They would be the last ones to attempt to have a Prime Minsiter and Premier from the same province, and, the last ones to not secure an official coalition government with a partner from Quebec. Major James Coldell, Prime Minister, and Ted Jolliffe, Premier, nearly started a constitutional crisis when they were repeatedly denied a double majority needed to pass bills. This crisis only ended due to pressure from the UK to attempt a wartime coalition, which William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Louis St. Laurent would go on to lead.

Other Prime Minsiters or Premiers during this time included Maurice Duplessis, Arthur Meighen, R. B. Bennett, and Lester Pearson.

It would not be until the 1970's that the offices of Prime Minsiter and Premier would become held by persons who would hold the office for long and consistent periods of time. This began with the creation of the Parti Quebecois by best friends for life, Pierre Trudeau, and Rene Levesque. When asked once about Quebec's place in Canada, they responded "What's wrong with it where it is" "What, do you want to turn it upside down or something" and both agreed that the "Double Majority" system, while it needed adjusting, was what kept the nation so strong and united.

Trudeau would serve as Prime Minister for over a decade, from 1970 through to 1982. It was during this time that many Liberals from Quebec would quit their party to join his, leaving the remnants to rename themselves the Libertarians, who would be joined by what was left of the Quebec Conservatives after the disastrous leadership of Duplessis. The Greens would also rise up in opposition to what they saw as Trudeau's anti-environmental agenda. From 1972 to 1975 and from 1978 to 1983, Trudeau would govern with Bill Davis from Ontario, a Conservative, but also for most of the period, the Liberal Party. It was the two who drafted Canada's official Constitution, which made a slight but important change to the double majority, and, abolish the useless Senate.

The 48 "standard" Senate seats were merged into the House, and transformed into Proportional Representation seats; while the 24 "additional" Senate seats would remain 'appointed' but still be merged into the House. They would be distributed using a convoluted formula. Canada's remaining 96 seats would remain FPTP however.

The 1983 election produced an Ontario plurality for the Conservatives; and new leader Joe Clark formed an alliance with Libertarian leader Brian Mulroney. The two entered into government, and were re-elected again in 1986. The 1989 election saw Lucien Bouchard's Greens take a plurality in Quebec; and they were invited in to the government, with Bouchard replacing Mulroney as Premier.

1992 was a banned year for the Labour-Progressives, who finally elected Bob Rae as Premier, he served under Prime Minister Bouchard. This government would be re-elected in 1995 and 1998 until it's defeat in the year 2001

This began a period of instability, with various people taking office including Jean Chretien, Jack Layton, Jean Charest, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper, Mike Harris, Gilles Duceppe, and finally, winning the election in 2008, the first two women to hold office, Prime Minister Pauline Marois, and Premier Shelia Copps.

Both Marois and Copps announced they would not contest the 2011 election.


to come: details on how Parliament works!

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

What's with the split of Baffin Island?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert's_Land

watershed

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

How the government works

Each "province" has
48 FPTP seats
24 PR seats
12 Government seats

How it works:

Each of the 48 ridings elects one MP on a first-past-the-post system.

Beyond this there is a Proportional Representation system. This is a parallel system. This brings a total to 72 seats. Remember, however, this is a parallel system. Thus, if your party wins 50% of the vote, you win 50% of the PR seats, or, 12 seats. You win these 12 seats weather you win 48 ridings or 0 ridings.

There are an additional 12 "governmental" seats. These are members that are appointed by the government. Now of course there is nothing stopping you from appointing opposition members, but, that's a bit silly. Thus, you normally appoint government supporters, party members, to these seats.


Lastly, remember that there is no "provincial legislature". The "provinces" are the halves of the nation. There is only a national legislature. Provinces have no powers.


In order to pass a law you need to qualify for the "Double Majority". This works as such:
METHOD A - 50%+1 of voting members from Ontario plus 50%+1 of voting members from Quebec plus 50%+1 of voting members from the entire legislature
METHOD B - 113 members from the entire legislature, plus at least 36 members from each province.

Method B is the "new" way, but, it can be filibustered, as cloture needs Method A in order to pass. This is not used very often.


Governments are formed by coalition. Parties enter into coalition with a programme of government, a plan to govern, legislation that it has plans to pass. The leader of one of the parties - normally the party with a plurality in the legislature - becomes the Prime Minister. The leader of the largest government party from the other province then usually becomes the Premier.

It is expected that any newly formed government will be able to pass laws, having a double majority under wither method A or B.

Every year you are expected to pass a budget. Note that these are Parliamentary budgets, not Congressional. This means the budget evolves and is ever-present. That means if Parliament fails to pass a 2011 budget, then the 2010 budget just continues. Each budget is an edit of the last one, and it is thus impossible to "shut down" government by failing to pass a budget.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

How to play!

You get a party. Or rather, a few of you can go to a single party, but ideally, one person per party. First come first serve. You become party leader but you can invite others in to your party if you wish.

This is a minigame. No in-depth writing and debating of legislation. Each turn equals one season. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. In each you are expected to do certain things. Spring is when the budget is presented. Fall is legislation heavy. Winter is a good time to politik, and Summer, the off season, is the best time to re-tool.

How long each turn lasts will depend on how active you guys are as players. One a day is ideal, but we can go down to one every 3 days if things get slow, or, even up to a week. A week is the limit though.

Everything is done in the game thread (consider this the sign-up thread)

The game begins in the Summer of 2011 with an election.

I will post more on exactly what you can do and how shortly.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

I'm merging this idea into another idea.