More History

Throughout the 1960s, the economic and business reforms in the US saw Canada enter an economic golden age, as the American demand for oil and natural resources skyrocketed. Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was slower to implement the changes occurring in the US, but they did happen, with some slow social changes taking place and the business and tech sectors becoming much more free to operate.

After the collapse of rock 'n' roll in 1961, Canada was seen as something of a safe haven. While rock music was not popular in the country, it was not quite as maligned as in the US, and it died a slower death. But it was still a symptom of Canada's reluctance to get entirely on board with American social policies, something that Nixon's government made clear could become costly for the country.

Paying no heed, in 1968 Canada elected the wildly popular Pierre Elliot Trudeau as Prime Minister. Riding a high of previously unseen economic success and industrial and trading power, Canada was in a golden age, and Trudeau let the world know. He was a bad boy Prime Minister, wild and free, and hip. And very, very much not in the Americans' good books.

Trade began to suffer under Trudeau's antics. Scandal after scandal took its toll on American purchases of Canadian resources, and when Margaret Trudeau, the PM's wife, did a nude centerfold in McLean's, a national magazine, that was the final straw. The US cut off all trade with Canada.

Without American money pouring in, Canadians began to notice the problems that had been growing in their country. The Great Lakes were getting smaller, the Badlands were getting badder, the ice was melting and oceans were rising. They wanted something done. As millions found themselves out of work, the country began to fracture.

In 1979, the Trudeaus, already having been out of the public eye for some time, vanished, and Alex Eaglesham's Libertarians won a majority government in the resulting emergency election.

Over the next five years Eaglesham worked to normalise relations with the Americans, implementing many of their social policies, though often in somewhat watered-down forms. Things improved, somewhat, but Eaglesham had so far only stemmed the tide. Something more had to be done.

In 1984 Prime Minister Eaglesham severed all ties with Great Britain and the monarchy, declaring Canada a republic, and drafting a new constitution that solidified and strengthened many of the changes his government had made. This was a popular move, but it would prove fatal for Eaglesham's government.

Over the next several months, Alberta, Quebec, the Northern Territories, and part of Ontario all declared their own independence, separating from Canada. By the time the Republic of Canada's first election arrived, Eaglesham was drummed out as a weak fool.

Elmer Knutson became the first president of Canada, on a promise to reunite the country, but in a way that would see the interests of the new independent nations respected. He called this idea the Confederation of Regions, and the Confederation government proved attractive to what was left of Canada.

The separatist states, meanwhile, had looked to their own interests. All began arming to defend themselves from each other, Canada, and the US. Alberta began selling oil to the Americans again, while the Northern Territories began exploiting the Arctic as never before. Southern Ontario, now the Protectorate of Upper Canada, became its own power, fighting an early war with the Americans to defend its place in the world. Quebec isolated itself, withdrawing from the rest of Canada to finally become its own country.

After several years of Confederation governance, the Reform Party, having formed in 1987, vowing to reunite Canada regardless of what the separatists wanted. This position proved highly popular, and in 1988, Knutson's Confederationists barely squeaked by to a minority government in light of Reform support.

Desperate to appear strong, Knutson passed the Adams Act in 1988, privatizing law enforcement. He ensured Canadians that this would allow them to deal with the independent nations more effectively, but the country responded better to Defence Minister Bryan Adams the namesake of the act and soon-to-be star sanctioned operator, than they did Knutson's placating speeches.

In 1993, it was time for an election again, and the Reform Party swept in to a majority, with Preston Manning becoming the new president. The country had grown tired of Knutson's weakness in dealing with the separatists, especially after the recent Meech Lake Accord. A trade and defence deal between Canada and the separatists, the Meech Lake Accord had been negotiated hugely in the separatists' favour, and Canadians were angry.

President Manning repealed the Meech Lake Accord, and remains in power in 1995, but his government is still being pressed to do something about the separatists.