The United States of Western North America

[JoeyOCanada]

On October 21, 2019, Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada were re-elected to a second term, capturing 157 seats in Parliament. The party was shut out in Alberta and failed to gain any significant advantages in any of the Western provinces. This led to extreme anger and calls for a “Wexit” from the citizens of the Western provinces, mostly centered in Alberta.

This led to Premier John Horgan of British Columbia, Premier Jason Kenney of Alberta, Premier Scott Moe of Saskatchewan and Premier Brian Pallister of Manitoba to come together in a summit on December 11, 2019. This summit included topics ranging from the carbon tax to the oil industry. Most importantly, a referendum was put forward to see if citizens of these three provinces truly wanted to separate from Canada. The referendum was scheduled to take place on January 28, 2020.

Anxiety was high on referendum day but after an overwhelming turnout of 88%, the “Yes” side came out on top with 62.61 percent of the vote meaning that the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba would be separating from Canada, a huge blow to the commonwealth.



World leaders from around the globe commented on the secession including American President Donald Trump tweeting that he is excited to be able to work with whoever is the leader of the new Western country. Queen Elizabeth II put out a statement stating that she hopes this new country will remain in the Commonwealth.

John Horgan, Scott Moe, Jason Kenney and Brian Pallister agreed to work together until a permanent Prime Minister could be chosen for the new country but they unveiled the official name of the new country to be the United States of Western North America. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba would make of the 4 states of USWNA. Along with this, they also announced that they would be working with the monarchy and would keep ties with the Queen; Stephen Harper was named as the first Governor General.

There would be three main parties that would make up the Legislative Assembly of the West and they are the United Conservatives (akin to the Canadian Conservative Party), the People’s Alliance (akin to the Canadian New Democratic Party, uses purple ala New Brunswick’s People’s Party) and the Labour Party (akin to the Canadian Liberal Party). The number of seats in the Legislature is 104, a majority is 53.

The leadership contests for each party would get underway in March 2020 with the Labour Party electing Ralph Goodale of Saskatchewan as their first leader. The United Conservative race was a dead heat between Andrew Scheer and Candice Bergen with Bergen being elected as the first leader. The People’s Alliance elected Rachel Notley as their first leader beating Kennedy Stewart in a close race.

The first election was scheduled for June 2020 with all 104 seats up for grabs.

[JoeyOCanada]

Federal party leaders
United Conservative: Candice Bergen
Labour: Ralph Goodale
People's Alliance: Rachel Notley

Seat totals
United Conservative: 49 seats
Labour: 13 seats
People's Alliance: 42 seats

List of USWNA federal electoral districts

Alberta (34 seats)
Banff-Airdrie: Blake Richards (UC)
Battle River-Crowfoot: Damien Kurek (UC)
Bow River: Martin Shields (PA)
Calgary Centre: Greg McLean (UC)
Calgary Confederation: Len Webber (UC)
Calgary Forest Lawn: Jasraj Singh Hallan (UC)
Calgary Heritage: Bob Benzen (UC)
Calgary Midnapore: Stephanie Kusie (UC)
Calgary Nose Hill: Michelle Rempel (UC)
Calgary Rocky Ridge: Pat Kelly (UC)
Calgary Shepard: Tom Kmiec (UC)
Calgary Signal Hill: Ron Liepert (UC)
Calgary Skyview: Rachel Notley (PA)
Edmonton Centre: Jason Kenney (UC)
Edmonton Griesbach: Mark Cherrington (PA)
Edmonton Manning: Charmaine St. Germain (PA)
Edmonton Mill Woods: Nigel Logan (PA)
Edmonton Riverbend: Audrey Redman (PA)
Edmonton Strathcona: Linda Duncan (PA)
Edmonton West: Patrick Steuber (PA)
Edmonton-Wetaskiwin: Noah Garver (PA)
Foothills: John Barlow (UC)
Fort McMurray-Cold Lake: Matthew Gilks (PA)
Grand Prairie-Mackenzie: Erin Aylward (PA)
Lakeland: Jeffrey Swanson (PA)
Lethbridge: Rachael Harder (UC)
Medicine Hat-Carston-Warner: Glen Motz (UC)
Peace River-Westlock: Arnold Viersen (UC)
Red Deer-Lacombe: Lauren Pezzella (PA)
Red Deer-Mountain View: Logan Garbanewski (PA)
Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan: Garnett Genuis (UC)
St. Alberta-Edmonton: Michael Cooper (UC)
Sturgeon River-Parkland: Dane Lloyd (UC)
Yellowhead: Kristine Bowman (PA)

British Columbia (42 seats)
Abbotsford: Ed Fast (UC)
Burnaby North-Seymour: Terry Beech (LAB)
Burnaby South: Jagmeet Singh (PA)
Cariboo-Prince George: Todd Doherty (UC)
Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola: Dan Albas (UC)
Chilliwack-Hope: Mark Strahl (UC)
Cloverdale-Langley City: John Aldag (LAB)
Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam: Ron McKinnon (LAB)
Courtneay-Alberni: Gord Johns (PA)
Cowichan-Malahat-Langford: Alistair MacGregor (PA)
Delta: Carla Qualtrough (LAB)
Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke: Randall Garrison (PA)
Fleetwood-Port Kells: Annie Ohana (PA)
Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo: Cathy McLeod (UC)
Kelowna-Lake Country: Tracy Gray (UC)
Kootenay-Columbia: Rob Morrison (UC)
Langley-Aldergrove: Stacey Wakelin (PA)
Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon: Michael Nenn (PA)
Nanaimo-Ladysmith: John Manly (PA)
New Westminster-Burnaby: Peter Julian (PA)
North Island-Powell River: Rachel Blaney (PA)
North Okanagan-Shuswap: Harwinder Sandhu (PA)
North Vancouver: Jonathan Wilkinson (LAB)
Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge: John Mogk (PA)
Port Moody-Coquitlam: Bonita Zarrillo (PA)
Prince George-Peace River-North Rockies: Marcia Luccock (PA)
Richmond Centre: Dustin Innes (PA)
Saanich-Gulf Island: Elizabeth May (PA)
Skeena-Bulkley Valley: Nathan Cullen (PA)
South Okanagan-West Kootenay: Richard Cannings (PA)
South Surrey-White Rock: Stephen Crozier (PA)
Steveston-Richmond East: Jaeden Dela Torre (PA)
Surrey Centre: Randeep Singh Sarai (LAB)
Surrey-Newton: Harjit Singh Gill (PA)
Vancouver Centre: Hedy Fry (LAB)
Vancouver East: John Horgan (PA)
Vancouver Granville: Jody Wilson-Raybould (PA)
Vancouver Kingsway: Don Davies (PA)
Vancouver Quadra: Joyce Murray (LAB)
Vancouver South: Harjitt Sajjan (LAB)
Victoria: Murray Rankin (PA)
West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country: Patrick Weiler (LAB)

Manitoba (14 seats)
Brandon-Souris: Larry Macguire (UC)
Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley: Marty Morantz
Churchill-Keewatinook Aski: Niki Ashton (PA)
Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa: Dan Mazier (UC)
Elmwood-Transcona: Daniel Blaikie (UC)
Kildonan-St. Paul: MaryAnn Mihychuk (LAB)
Portage-Lisgar: Candice Bergen (UC)
Provencher: Ted Falk (UC)
Saint Boniface-Saint Vital: Rejeanne Caron (UC)
Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman: James Bezan (UC)
Winnipeg Centre: Brian Pallister (UC)
Winnipeg North: Leah Gazan (PA)
Winnipeg South: Melanie Maher (UC)
Winnipeg South Centre: Jim Carr (LAB)

Saskatchewan (14 seats)
Battlefords-Lloydminster: Rosemarie Falk (UC)
Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek: Kelly Block (UC)
Cypress Hills-Grasslands: Jeremy Patzer (UC)
Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River: Gary Vidal (UC)
Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan: Scott Moe (UC)
Prince Albert: Brad Wall (UC)
Regina-Lewvan: Warren Steinley (UC)
Regina-Qu'Appelle: Andrew Scheer (UC)
Regina-Wascana: Ralph Goodale (LAB)
Saskatoon-Grasswood: Kevin Waugh (UC)
Saskatoon-University: Brad Trost (UC)
Saskatoon West: Brad Redekopp (UC)
Souris-Moose Mountain: Brad Kitchen (UC)
Yorkton-Melville: Cathay Wagantall (UC)

[JoeyOCanada]

The election campaign kicked off in early May as the election was scheduled to take place on June 8, 2020. The first polls of the campaign showed the United Conservatives with a lead coming in at 38.6%, in second was the People's Alliance with 30.3% while the Labour Party 23.2% with 7.9% of the electorate being undecided.

The first week of the campaign was largely uneventful as the leaders traversed the country, holding rallies and town halls. The only big story out of the week was a Ralph Goodale event being interupted by protesters calling him a Trudeau crony.

The second week featured the first federal leaders' debate that included Candice Bergen, Ralph Goodale and Rachel Notley. The debate was dominated by Notley and Bergen verbally sparring while Goodale had some good comments. Rachel Notley was seen as the winner of the debate. A new poll was released that showed the United Conservatives with 35.9%, People's Alliance with 32.9% and Labour with 26.2% with 5% of the electorate being undecided.

The penultimate week of the campaign saw Candice Bergen hammer Rachel Notley on her record as Premier of Alberta while Ralph Goodale tried to shore up support in Saskatchewan.

When election night arrived, it was clear that it would be a deadheat between the United Conservatives and the People's Alliance.

The night started in Manitoba with 14 seats up for grabs. The United Conservatives started strong, winning 9 of the 14 seats in the province. The People's Alliance claimed 3 while the Labour Party claimed 2.

Saskatchewan was the next state that would give some results and the United Conservatives won 13 of the 14 seats in the province with Labour leader Ralph Goodale managing to pick up 1. After Saskatchewan, seat totals were as follows: United Conservative (22), People's Alliance (3), Labour (3). 53 is needed for a majority.

The 34 seats in Alberta started to show how the government was going to shake out and the United Conservatives ended up winning 20 of the 34 seats, the People's Alliance was successful in winning 14 of the seats including Rachel Notley winning a stunner in Calgary Skyview. After Alberta, the seat totals were as follows: United Conservatives (42), People's Alliance (17), Labour (3). The United Conservatives are closing in on a majority government.

British Columbia was the final state to give results in the first federal election and the 42 gave a broad range of results. The People's Alliance picked up 25 seats, the Labour Party picked up 10 seats while the United Conservatives only picked up 7 seats.

The ending seat totals were as follows:
United Conservatives: 49 seats
People's Alliance: 42 seats
Labour: 13 seats

This means that Candice Bergen and the United Conservatives have fallen just short of a majoirty government, however, Candice Bergen will become the first Prime Minister of the United States of Western North America.

[Arson Plus]

The ending seat totals were as follows:
United Conservatives: 49 seats
People's Alliance: 42 seats
Labour: 13 seats
[/center]

Why didn't Notley and Goodale form a coalition.

[JoeyOCanada]

The ending seat totals were as follows:
United Conservatives: 49 seats
People's Alliance: 42 seats
Labour: 13 seats
[/center]

Why didn't Notley and Goodale form a coalition.

These were simply the election results. Aftermath will come soon.

[JoeyOCanada]

The weeks following the election were eventful and as talks of a coalition between the People's Alliance and Labour Party grew, People's Alliance Leader Rachel Notley shot them down, stating that they are willing to work with any party on any issue and that the country is far too young for any talk of that sort.

Prime Minister-designate Candice Bergen and her first cabinet were sworn in on June 30, 2020. The first Cabinet of the United States of Western North America is as follows:

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Jason Kenney
Minister of National Defence: Brad Wall
Minister of Finance: Bob Benzen
Minister of Environmental Affairs: Rosemarie Falk
Minister of Natural Resources: Stephanie Kusie
Minister of Health: Todd Doherty
Minister of Economic Development: Ed Fast
Minister of Justice and Attorney General: Michelle Rempel

While the Cabinet was relatively small with only 8 ministers, Prime Minister Bergen knew that there was a lot of work ahead and the political bargaining began as it was only a matter of 1 week until the Legislative Assembly met for the first time.

On July 7, 2020, the Legislature of the West convened for the very first time where United Conservative Ron Liepert was elected as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. The Speech from the Throne was then read by Governor General Stephen Harper which outlined the United Conservatives' vision for the USWNA including having a stable, steady and balanced economy, creating jobs, building a strong and stable military and becoming the mecca for industry in the world.

The MLAs debated the Throne Speech for several days and on July 13, 2020, the United Conservatives won their first confidence vote 89-15 with all but 2 (Elizabeth May and Paul Manly) People's Alliance MLAs voting with them. Afterwards, PA leader Rachel Notley stated that the Throne Speech outlined major things that need to happen in this country and that she is prepared to work with Prime Minister Bergen on a number of things. Elizabeth May spoke out, saying that the Throne Speech did not outline what needs to happen in Alberta and that there needs to be a bigger focus on green energy there.

It is certain that there are a number of things to be accomplished by the Bergen government and only time will tell if she can maintain the confidence of the Legislature.

The 1st Western Legislature

[JoeyOCanada]

While Prime Minister Bergen took her first trip abroad to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of National Defence Brad Wall was hard at work putting together the Western Armed Forces which were revealed to the public in early August. Wall held a press conference where he reported that the force was already 20,000 strong, the majority of which were former members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

The Western Armed Forces consisted of only two branches, the Western Army and the Royal Western Air Force. Brad Wall welcomed and called for anyone 16 years of age or older to enlist in the military to help keep the country strong and safe.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jason Kenney commented on the new military by saying that he is certain this will ensure that no country takes advantage of the USWNA, a comment that was taken and spun by pundits on the news saying that Kenney is threatening other countries.

[JoeyOCanada]

Now that the federal government was in full swing, it was time to elect the Governors of the 4 states of the USWNA. Typically, when a federal government is a parliamentary one so are the state-wide races, however, a Bill was passed that the 3 parties would run candidates at the state-level with the popular vote winning out and gaining the right to govern for 4 years.

The first to throw their name in for the Manitoba gubernatorial election was Labour Party candidate Jon Gerrard, he stated that he knows he has what it takes to make sure that Manitoba is not forgotten. Shortly after Gerrard's entrance into the race, People's Alliance candidate Wab Kinew decided he would enter the race and shortly after Kinew's entrance, United Conservative candidate Hugh McFadyen declared his candidacy.

The race was heated and remained a close race between the People's Alliance and shockingly enough, the Labour Party with McFadyen fading quickly from the race, although in the dying days of the campaign, McFadyen and the United Conservative movement had a slight jump in the polls.

However, it wasn't enough as on election night, Labour Party candidate Jon Gerrard became the first Governor of Manitoba with Wab Kinew of the People's Alliance finishing second and Hugh McFadyen of the Untied Conservatives finishing third.