The Gathering Storm - Gameplay Thread (Late 1939)

[DKrol]

From the Prime Minister
WL Mackenzie King

My fellow Canadians,

Our nation stands at an important moment in our history. We are emerging from the depths of the Depression as a new era is dawning on the world. Thanks to Prime Minister Chamberlain and Mr. Hitler, it appears as though peace has won the day in Central Europe. For this we are all thankful; we all remember the horrors of the Great War - both in brave lives lost on the battlefields and in suffering and strife at home.

In order to avoid such suffering and strife from returning to our shores, I have written to Mr. Chamberlain and reaffirmed a longstanding position of my Government: the Canadian Parliament will decide the policies of Canada. We will not be drawn into any conflict, any dispute, any war, simply due to our shared allegiance to the same Crown. Canada is a separate, sovereign nation and we will conduct our own affairs, at home and abroad. In terms of the simmering conflicts and disputes of 20th Century Europe, that means neutrality until and unless Canada herself is threatened. Mr. Chamberlain has accepted this position.

To promote the newly-reasserted Canadian sovereignty, my Government will be pursuing a bold legislative agenda in the coming weeks. We are at a moment of the beginning of greatness and we must seize the moment. What the 19th Century was for our Southern neighbors, so too can the 20th Century be for Canada.

The Minister of National Defense will table the Home Protection Act, which will establish the Canadian Home Guard. The CHG will be an all-volunteer regiment of patriotic men, to take part in specialized training and armament, who will be the first line of defense for the Canadian homeland. The CHG will revolutionize how Canada protects herself, by ensuring that there is an ever-ready force standing by within our borders. My desire is for this force to raise and train 10,000 men, ages 17 to 55, within its first two full years of operation. The Home Protection Act will also establish a national corps of fire fighters, ambulance operators, and police men. Run through a central agency, these emergency responders will ensure that every Canadian can feel safe in their home, their school, their office, or their Church, without needing to burden local officials. The Emergency Responder Corps will professionalize an industry in need of professionalism, create good-paying jobs at a time when we all understand the value of work, and ensure a national standard and expectation for safety and protection. The RCMP will serve as the overall police agency within the Corps.

The Minister of Public Works will table the Electrification Act. Each and every Canadian citizen, from Halifax to Vancouver, has a right to electricity in their home. Electricity is the great equalizer of our society, and the key to socio-economic mobility for so many. The Electrification Act will allocate millions of dollars to construct a hydroelectric dam on the Saint Lawrence River. This dam will capture and generate enough power to, when combined with existing power generation and further smaller investments, turn the lights on across the nation. The Electrification Act will allocate further funds to building out transmission lines across Canada, to bring the power directly to the people, and provide the equipment to electrify rural homes. The Electrification Act will also provide provinces who choose to access the funds with low-interest loans to construct their own hydroelectric dam power generation projects.

Lastly, I will personally table the Housing Act. The Housing Act will create a Crown Corporation to build good homes for Canadians and then provide low-cost, low-down payment, and low-interest mortgages backed by the faith and credit of the Canadian Government. Not only will the Housing Act create thousands of good-paying jobs for Canadians, it will also ensure that Canada is not a nation where men need to live in parks or under bridges. Every Canadian has a right to a roof over their head and somewhere to call home. It is my desire to see 100,000 new homes built across Canada within the next year, and 500,000 new homes built across Canada within the next three years. These homes will be built in areas determined to be of the greatest need and not be concentrated in large cities where single-family homes are impractical or areas where homes are already plentiful.

This legislative package is the boldest policy agenda laid out in the Canadian Parliament in our history. I am confident that the Parliament will pass the package with minimal revision and set Canada up for a smashing success in the decades ahead.

- x
WL Mackenzie King
The Prime Minister