Canada with 25 Provinces

In an alternate 1866 the London Conference that created the British North America Act hits an unexpected stumbling block. The delegates from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are concerned that they will be overwhelmed by the much larger proposed provinces of Ontario and Quebec. They insist that each of these bigger provinces be split in two. In order to get a deal this is agreed - because it is really just an administrative change - and besides with six provinces there will be more offices and honours to go around.

Canada West (OTL Ontario) is split between the provinces of Simcoe, with its capital at London and Frontenac with its capital at Kingston. The commercial hub of Toronto is just inside of Frontenac and bitterly resents being relegated to second class status.

Canada East (OTL Quebec) is divided between Hochelaga, with its capital at Montreal and Quebec centred around Quebec City.

By 1888 Toronto's demands for its place in the sun can longer be ignored. A new province is created - Toronto taking York, Ontario and Durham counties from Frontenac and Peel and Simcoe counties from the province of Simcoe. The tradition of splitting provinces had begun...

In 2015 Canada has 25 provinces - ranging from Toronto with nearly 6 million people to Arctic with less than 74,000. Each province is represented in the Federal Parliament by six senators (for a total of 150). Regardless of population each province gets 2 MP's in the House of Commons as well as their percentage of the population of the country multiplied by 333. This creates a House of Commons of 383 seats.

The map shows Canada in 2015. And the posts that follow will offer profiles of each of Canada's 25 provinces. If anyone is interested, please flesh out the timelines and political histories of each one.

25 Province Map - Labels.png
 
Provincial Profile: TORONTO
Population (2011): 5,998,585
Capital: Queen's Park
Admitted as a province: 1888 - Created from parts of Simcoe and Frontenac
Members of Parliament: 62
Premier: Kathleen Wynne (Lib)
Profile: Canada's financial centre and most urban province was founded in 1888 from parts of Simcoe and Frontenac. Toronto's commercial power was felt even then and local politicians wanted their own province. It is Canada's most populous province and includes both the urban core and the rural areas and cottage country around Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay. The province is a fiefdom of the Liberal Party, and Premier Kathleen Wynne was re-elected to her second term in 2013.
 
Provincial Profile: HOCHELAGA
Population (2011): 4,436,160
Capital: Old Montreal
Admitted as a province: 1867 - created from Canada East
Members of Parliament: 46
Premier: Denis Coderre (Lib)
Profile: One of Canada's original six provinces, created from the old Canada East in 1867. The Province is dominated by Montreal and is divided between working class and rural francophone areas and upper middle class anglophone neighbourhoods on the west Island. The province is governed most often by the Liberals - a brokerage party amenable to both anglo and francophones, but faces opposition from left-wing franco-nationalists.
 
Provincial Profile: FRASER
Population (2011): 2,677,617
Capital: New Westminster
Admitted as a province: 1925 - Created from British Columbia
Members of Parliament: 29
Premier: Christy Clark (Lib)
Profile: Centred on Vancouver and including the rich farming region of the Fraser Valley, Fraser is Canada's third most populous province. Racially-diverse with a booming tech sector this province claims to be both Silicon Valley North and Hollywood North. With nearly 3 million people and almost 30 MPs, it has a strong voice in Confederation. Christy Clark has been been Premier since 2013, succeeding Gordon Campbell who had been premier for 17 years.
 
Provincial Profile: SIMCOE
Population (2011): 2,316,606
Capital: London
Admitted as a province: 1867 - created from Canada West
Members of Parliament: 25
Premier: Monte McNaughton (PC)
Profile: Created out of Canada West in 1867 to be one of Canada's original six provinces. The capital is at London, fulfilling Colonel Simcoe's dream for that city. Largely dominated by manufacturing and argiculture, it has struggled economically since 2008. Monte McNaughton's PC's were elected in 2011, with a strong Labour opposition.
 
Provincial Profile: FRONTENAC
Population (2011): 2,063,335
Capital: Kingston
Admitted as a province: 1867 - created from Canada West
Members of Parliament: 23
Premier: John Baird (Con)
Profile: The other half of Canada West split off to be one of the original six provinces in 1867. Governed from Kingston, but also containing Ottawa, the National Capital. John Baird has been been the Conservative Premier since 2007, following a short-lived Liberal government. In the 1990's and early 2000's Premier Bob "Mad Dog" Runciman kept this province blue.
 
Provincial Profile: MACLEOD
Population (2011): 1,894,675
Capital: Calgary
Admitted as a province: 1922 - split from Alberta
Members of Parliament: 21
Premier: Danielle Smith (Con)
Profile: In 1922 the southern half of Alberta was split off to create Macleod. This is a cowboy province defined by oil derricks and sprawling ranches. It is now the 6th most populated province, slightly larger than Alberta. Danielle Smith took over the Conservative dynasty from Ralph Klein in 2007.
 
Provincial Profile: ALBERTA
Population (2011): 1,750,582
Capital: Edmonton
Admitted as a province: 1905 - created out of the Northwest Territories
Members of Parliament: 19
Premier: Rachel Notley (Labour)
Profile: Created from the Northwest Territores in 1905 Alberta is the home to the Edmonton Oilers, the Oil Sands in Fort MacMurray and natural gas in the Peace Country. One of the richest places in the world just elected Rachel Notley and an inexperienced caucus from the Labour party ending a decade of PC rule.
 
Provincial Profile: QUEBEC
Population (2011): 1,741,150
Capital: Quebec City
Admitted as a province: 1867 - created from Canada East
Members of Parliament: 19
Premier: Pauline Marois (Souv)
Profile: In 1867 Canada East was sawed in half with the west going to Hochelaga and the east being named Quebec. Overwhelmingly francophone with a strong independent streak. Actually voted for independence in 1996, but was unable to negotiate terms. Despite this Sovereignists keep winning provincial elections.
 
Provincial Profile: NIAGARA
Population (2011): 1,698,117
Capital: Dundas
Admitted as a province: 1921 - split from parts of the provinces of Simcoe and Toronto
Members of Parliament: 19
Premier: Andrea Horvath (Labour)
Profile: Carved out of parts of Simcoe and Toronto in the early 1920's to create a province to be Canada's industrial heartland. Decline of manufacturing is being partly made up for by an increase in tourism and wine making. Governed by the Labour Party since 1974.
 
Provincial Profile: MANITOBA
Population (2011): 1,208,268
Capital: Winnipeg
Admitted as a province: 1870 - created from the Northwest Territories
Members of Parliament: 14
Premier: Greg Selinger (CCF)
Profile: Manitoba is the oldest of the prairie provinces. It is dominated by its only major city, Winnipeg. Diversity is slowly beginning to change the face of the province. Greg Selinger remains in power despite his CCF party colleagues trying to depose him in 2014.
 
Provincial Profile: ESTRIE
Population (2011): 1,049,872
Capital: Sherbrooke
Admitted as a province: 1923 - split from Hochelaga and Quebec
Members of Parliament: 12
Premier: Bernard Barrée (Nat)
Profile: The hinterland between Montreal and Quebec City felt ignored by both Hochelaga and Quebec, breaking off in the early 1920's. Primarily agricultural with small manufacturing, it has been governed by franco-nationalists for more than 25 years, but has not flirted with independence.
 
Provincial Profile: SASKATCHEWAN
Population (2011): 1,033,381
Capital: Regina
Admitted as a province: 1905 - Created from the Northwest Territories
Members of Parliament: 12
Premier: Brad Wall (Con)
Profile: Overwhelmingly rural province dominated by grain farming and some oil and gas development. Traditional battleground between the populist left-wing Co-operative Federation and Conservative parties. With the smallest population of the four Prairies provinces, it does not have much of a voice in Ottawa.
 
Provincial Profile: NOVA SCOTIA
Population (2011): 785,753
Capital: Halifax
Admitted as a province: 1867 - from the Colony of Nova Scotia
Members of Parliament: 10
Premier: Stephen McNeil (Lib)
Profile: One of the original six provinces which joined at Confederation. It lost Cape Breton, but has specialized in fruit farming and higher education. Halifax is Canada's most significant port on the Atlantic. Politically it switches between the PCs and the Liberals, though policy differences are small. The Labour movement has been growing over the last twenty years.
 
Provincial Profile: SUPERIOR
Population (2011): 775,178
Capital: Sudbury
Admitted as a province: 1961 - created from parts of Frontenac and the Northwest Territories
Members of Parliament: 10
Premier: Charlie Angus (Labour)
Profile: Superior was created out of the southern sections of the Northwest Territories and the northern parts of Frontenac in order to better manage the mining and resource development in the mid-twentieth century. The eastern part has a significant francophone minority. It has been dominated by the Labour party since becoming its own province.
 
Provincial Profile: VANCOUVER ISLAND
Population (2011): 736,254
Capital: Victoria
Admitted as a province: 1902
Members of Parliament: 9
Premier: John Horgan (ICF)
Profile: Broke away from the mainland in the early 20th century - has a more British flavour than the rest of the country. Considered the retirement home of Canada with a much older population than average. The Island Cooperative Federation has been in power for the last eight years.
 
Provincial Profile: BRITISH COLUMBIA
Population (2011): 729,459
Capital: Kamloops
Admitted as a province: 1871 - created from the Colony of British Columbia
Members of Parliament: 9
Premier: Brad Bennett (SC)
Profile: Originally the entire colony of British Columbia was admitted as a province, but after Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and the north broke away it left only a rump of the southern interior. The core of the province is the Okanagan Valley and wine making industry is growing in prominence. Social Credit and the Bennett family have dominated the province since the 1950's.
 
Provincial Profile: PONTIAC
Population (2011): 550,020
Capital: Hull
Admitted as a province: 1899 - Created from Hochelaga
Members of Parliament: 7
Premier: Stéphanie Vallée (Lib)
Profile: Part of Hochelaga at Confederation it was ignored by the Montreal elites. One of the first new provinces to break away to ensure mining development in the Abitibi. The province is divided between a significant number of federal civil servants in Hull and the mining communities in the Val D'Or.
 
Provincial Profile: NEWFOUNDLAND
Population (2011): 487,808
Capital: St. John's
Admitted as a province: 1933 - from the Dominion of Newfoundland
Members of Parliament: 7
Premier: Brian Peckford (PC)
Profile: Joined Canada after the Dominion of Newfoundland went bankrupt in the early 1930's. Transitioned out of fishing in the 1990's and now profiting from an oil development boom. Peckford was Premier in the 1980's but came out of retirement to serve as interim-leader of his party and surprisingly ended up winning an election in 2012.
 
Provincial Profile: NEW BRUNSWICK
Population (2011): 384,017
Capital: Fredericton
Admitted as a province: 1867 - from the Colony of New Brunswick
Members of Parliament: 6
Premier: Ted Flemming (PC)
Profile: The English speaking half of one of the original six provinces. Limited influence and very culturally conservative. More or less the feifdom of the Flemming family who have ruled the province for 39 of the past 52 years.
 
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