Our Fair Country: The Commonwealth of New England

[Scerus]

West Papua, also known by its official name Netherlands New Guinea, is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in Oceania. Together with Papua New Guinea, the two countries occupy the island of New Guinea. West Papua is the last remnant of the Dutch East Indies, and is known as a tourist destination for Australian and Japanese travellers, who go to see the country's pristine beaches and untouched interior. The capital, Hollandia, is the home port of the Dutch East Indies naval squadron, which patrols the waters between West Papua and Indonesia, with whom the Netherlands has been engaged with a low-level conflict in since the former's bid for independence. West Papua was briefly occupied (1969-1972) by Indonesia, but a multinational coalition of forces (Netherlands, United States, and United Kingdom) invaded Indonesia to topple the country's fledgling Communist government. Despite forever renouncing a claim to West Papua, the nationalist government which took over in the early 1980s denounced the agreement with the Dutch, and proclaimed the territory belonged to Indonesia.

West Papua is also known for its high income inequalities, as well as several uncontacted and rural lifestyle of many of its citizens outside of the shoreline. The economy has been in a cycle of constant stagnation and recession, stemming from the 1986 Act of Deportation, which removed those identified as "Asiatic" and "Indonesian," in a measure to try and keep West Papua free from outside interference.

There is broad support for the country to unite with Papua New Guinea, although West Papua refuses on the grounds of the poor security which could be offered by Papua New Guinea. Instead, the two counties share special rights such as a single market and limited border controls, as well as an agreement to respect the lifestyles of the indigenous populations.

Good, the native people won't be subject to forced conversion and cultural genocide.

 

[ImSadCauseImAlone]

Since Deseret is a state ITTL, did Brigham Young still flee New England?

 

[CosmicAsh]

The 2014 Connecticut general election was the most recent election held to determine the legislature of Connecticut. Incumbent Premier John McKinney was able to secure re-election due to Connecticut's highly irregular voting patterns and voting districts which were drawn in 2008 by the independent New England Electoral Commission, which were determined to be highly favourable to the Conservatives, and created some of the worst rotten boroughs in New England, all a function of the strict "parity" clause passed by the New England Parliament in 2007 for provincial redistricting, which disallowed any electoral district at the provincial level fall above or below 500 inhabitants of the mean.

The Conservative/National coalition that emerged from the 2010 general election held firm, despite several MGAs crossing the floor. After the government lost a close vote with their 51-seat majority, the Connecticut General Assembly was dissolved and voters once again went to the polls. The Conservatives only lost a seat, and Curtis Rand, who took over for former Premier Gayle Slossberg, saw his Liberals lose a total of two seats, despite their vote share increasing. Labour was able to hold all 18 of their seats, primarily urban ones, led by Nancy Wyman, the President of the federal Labour Party. Despite suburban voters willingness to vote for Labour on the national level, their support is significantly lower when compared to the more moderate Liberals, who despite dissolving on the federal level, remain strong provincially.

The Nationals are the only anglophone rural party left in all of New England, and Connecticut is one of their strongholds, able to easily win seats east of the River Connecticut and in Litchfield County. Per the terms of the Conservative/National coalition, they are a fused ticket in Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex, and New London counties, but in general the Conservatives will not contest safe National seats in Litchfield, Windham, and Tolland counties.

The campaign was a referendum on McKinney's premiership, as well as Rand's bland style of politics. Wyman employed ample use of Labour resources to attempt to break through the suburban voters and gain enough seats to become Leader of the Opposition, but polls showed that the party still only registered below twenty per cent support outside the urban centres of Hartford, Waterbury, New Haven, and Bridgeport. The real news of the campaign was the Nations new leader, Barbara Perkinson, aggressively campaigning in eastern Connecticut, seeking to flip what was considered a marginal liberal seat. When the Conservatives agreed to not contest the race, it opened up the Nationals to take their first true pickup in several elections.

The insurgent campaign of Louis Barker found traction as he walked the streets of New Haven to persuade voters there to unseat the Labourite incumbent to give the Greens a voice in Hartford for the first time in history. While Labour had lost this seat, they did pick up one in the Hartford area to offset this loss.

After much speculation that Connecticut was headed towards a hung parliament, the Conservative/National coalition managed to win enough seats to increase their majority to 52 seats. Curtis Rand announced he would step down as leader after further losing seats. Connecticut's electoral result would be so lopsided, 36.6% of the voters returned 51.5% of the seats, that new guidelines were put into place for the New England Electoral Commission to take into account difficulties with drawing nearly equal districts, and recommending that too many communities not be split up. The upcoming 2018 general election will see the legislature expand by fifty seats to 151, and implement a new electoral map.

 

[CosmicAsh]

The United States of America is the world's most powerful nation, and the world's largest economy. The county is widely regarded as the world's sole Hyperpower, far surpassing the power of the world's other two Superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. The country won independence from Great Britain after the American Revolutionary War, which saw nine out of the nineteen British colonies in North America secede and form a democratic republic. The nation's capital, Hamilton, D.C., is named after the first President of the United States, Alexander Hamilton, the city is also called the "Capital of Democracy," a term coined during the Cold War. The country is bordered to the north by Canada, to the northeast by New England, and to the south by Mexico. The Federal Territory of Panama bisects the Republic of Panama in the Caribbean United States.

The United States is a union of 43 States and 3 Federal Territories located in North America and the Caribbean. The United States Navy is the second largest naval force on the planet, with the primary base of operations being in the Caribbean Sea. The United States has had a troubled history with her southern neighbours, often involved in interventions and supportive of overthrows of unfriendly governments. The most notable war the United States fought in the Caribbean was the Cuban Uprising in the early 20th century, where American forces had to subdue a fierce independence struggle by Cuban insurgents that was not fully quelled until the 1930s. The Territory of Panama holds the Panama Canal, which is currently in the process of being widened, to compete with the British-held Suez Canal.

The United States has two official langues, English and Spanish, but English is the lingua franca of a majority of Americans, with Spanish being spoken mostly in the Southern and Caribbean United States. Despite constituting only a fourth of the U.S. population, the current President Marco Rubio (NAT-CU) and Speaker of the House Rubén Moreira Valdez (SL-JF) are both native Spanish speakers.

Due to its large economy, it is often considered the most important economy in the world, with the "Financial Center of the Planet" being located in the New York metropolitan region. Together with New England, which borders the region, the combined economic impact of New York City accounts for nearly five per cent of the entire global economy, roughly four and a half trillion dollars. While this is measured directly, the indirect pull of New York could account for a fourth of the global economy by some estimates. The New York Stock Exchange is the largest in the world, only comparable in market capitalization by all the stock markets of the Commonwealth of Nations (incl. Canada) combined. (35 trillion to 30 trillion).

The United States also spends the second most on its military in the world, surpassed only by the Soviet Union, which has been roundly criticized (even by Soviet politicians) as inefficient and bloated. Despite this spending gap, the United States Army is considered the best in the world, with bases located worldwide. The United States also has the largest and most advanced air force, surpassing that of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Soviet Union. The United States Space Corps also manages the first military base not located on Earth, with the launch of the Terra-Luna Spacestation at the Earth–Moon L1 point. While not a traditional military instillation, which is banned by the Outer Space Treaty, it is classified as such for access to military funds and the instillation of a fuel depot for a future planned expansion to the Earth–Moon L2 point and establishing the access point to the Asteroid Belt and Mars as outlined in 2003 NASA budget by President Hector Ruiz.

 

[CosmicAsh]

The Cabinet of Marco Rubio is the current cabinet of the United States which began when President Marco Rubio was inaugurated on January 20th, 2017 as President of the United States of America. The cabinet includes one notable holdover from the Yellen Administration, Secretary Richard Trumka of the Labor Department. The cabinet had little trouble being confirmed by the United States Senate, although some National Congressmen attempted to hold up the confirmation of Javier Corral Jurado, who was a sitting Senator, on accounts of his limited English skills, which they contended would be an issue in running the federal Bureaucracy. Senate Majority Leader Chris Van Hollen dismissed these accusations as baseless, and Jurado was confirmed on March 1, 2017, completing the core of the Rubio cabinet.

 

[Amateur Psephologist]

How does the Judiciary work in New England?

 

[CosmicAsh]

The United States has two major political parties, the National Party and the Social Labor Party. The National Party can trace its roots back to the Civil War, where it once operated as the National Democrats, itself a fusion of the former Free Soil and Northern Democratic Parties. Social Labor has existed since the turn of the century, although it did not become a major political party until after President Norman Thomas switched from Progressive to Social Labor. Most Progressive politicians followed him, although the party soon moderated after he lost his re-election bid by former Progressive delegates who instead nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt, who expanded the party's membership and made it a major force in U.S. Politics.

Due to the ties to the labor movement, Social Labor is most popular in the "Rust Belt" of the country stretching from Minnesota to New Jersey. They are also popular in the south among African-Americans and low-income whites, making them highly competitive in national elections. The National Party is popular across the South, West, and Caribbean United States, with it being the main party of choice for a majority (~65%) of the nation's Hispanic population. Because of this, the National Party is the dominant party in states close to Mexico, and the former Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Hispanic influence in Florida has also made that state competitive in recent years, but the more moderate branch of Social Labor, which espouses liberalism and not socialism, controls much of Florida's political establishment.

 

[NVB]

Excellent work! I really like the party logos and cabinet.

 

[Red Wolfe]

would the american government be different and if so what would it be like

 

[The Professor]

would the american government be different and if so what would it be like

You mean like functions?
I suspect the VP might have more of the P's work and the House Leaders might hold more sway.

 

[CosmicAsh]

How does the Judiciary work in New England?

The Supreme Court of New England is the highest court of the land, and has the power to hear all civil and criminal appeals. Below them is the Federal Court of Appeal, which hears civil and criminal cases on a federal level for federal crimes. The Provincial Court of Appeal is the final court of appeals for provincial matters, and will hear cases from all provinces. Below this are the Supreme Courts of each New England province, which in turn are divided into Provincial Courts based normally on county lines (although some courts could have jurisdiction in several counties).

English Law is the structure in all New England provinces. French civil code is observed on a defacto basis in northern New England.

would the american government be different and if so what would it be like

It's not all that different. The position of Vice-President is about as powerful as we know of it today (it simply exists) and its as powerful as the person occupying it. In practice, the Vice-President is the informal liaison between the Legislative and the Executive, given that the VP is still the President of the Senate. The structure of the government is more or less the same, there might be minor differences but they are either cosmetic or not that ground-breaking.

You mean like functions?
I suspect the VP might have more of the P's work and the House Leaders might hold more sway.

House Leaders do have the ability to call a vote to dismiss a cabinet member. The Secretary of the Treasury is immensely powerful due to Hamilton's insistence it act like the British Chancellor of the Exchequer. Since Hamilton himself became President, that office acts as more as a Prime Ministerial role, and the Head of State functions could reasonably be delegated to the Vice-President or the Secretary of State, mostly because the President is so wholly involved in running the government. The President is supposed to work more closely with the House, and there is little taboo involved in the President travelling to the capitol for meetings with Congresspeople and members of his/her cabinet. A divided government makes this process... interesting, but nevertheless there isn't any silliness like the President releasing a proposed budget, then the Congress adopts one that is completely different. Only one budget is presented because both the Executive and Legislative branch worked on it during the drafting process.

 

[Analytical Engine]

Well, at least the US ITTL has an actually sensible split in parties, instead of the liberal-conservative (with a dash of social democrat) vs. conservative-conservative (now with EXTRA conservatism) one it has IOTL.

 

[Screwhorn77]

Considering the fact that USSR ITTL is stated to be similar to OTL China, I'd like to know about Internet and its likely censorship in the Soviet Union. I also wonder what this man might be up to...

 

[Deleted member 92121]

Excellent updates regarding the U.S. This fuels a lot of questions, some old some new:

So i gather the Nationals enjoy calling themselves the "Party of Lincoln". Does Labour counts Teddy as being in their Field? Since i gather the Progressive Party was much closer to it's sucessor then to the conservative Nationals.

And Now: More questions.

What about Hamilton and Jefferson? Which Party most identifies with them? And is Jefferson less renowned than IOTL, since he only served for 4 years while his predecessor Hamilton served for 16 and his successor James Monroe for 10?

Henry Clay, the only Whig president, and a president for 12 years. What is his legacy? Was there a Mexican-American war during his term? Is he seen as a good or bad president?

And finally: Is there a Mount Rushmore? And what faces are there? If i had to pick 4 i would guess Hamilton, Jefferson(or Monroe, or Clay, not sure), Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt

 

[CosmicAsh]

The Adirondack general election, 2017 was the most recent general election held within the Province of Adirondack to determine the provincial government. While considered solidly a Conservative province on the federal level, provincial elections are highly competitive, but with a lean towards the Conservatives. Adirondack is one of the few provinces that have a stable two-party system, with elections contested between the Conservatives and the Adirondack Liberal Party.

The election was focused on incumbent Premier Édouard Garneau's decision to allow limited development in the Great Park region of the province, which had long been banned by provincial laws. He successfully challenged the wording of the laws in the Supreme Court of Adirondack, and his government managed to overturn the laws without MLAs going on record in voting for them. The measure was so controversial, that the Federal Government passed a law supported by eighty percent of the New England Parliament to enshrine protections for the Great Park region, known as the Forever Wild Act 2017, preventing development of any existing forests and woodlands in Adirondack, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and New Brunswick.

Faced with mounting pressure to hold the the provincial election, Premier Garneau asked Lieutenant Governor Hélyette Lanoue to dissolve the Legislative Assembly on 19 July, 2017. She granted the request, setting the date of the election for 10 September, 2017 - the second Sunday in September.

Early in the election, the Green Party of Adirondack, which normally ran candidates across the province gaining only around half a per cent of the vote, announced they would run no candidates, and urged their voters to vote for Liberal MLAs to prevent the Conservative government from returning to power and challenging the Forever Wild Act 2017 in the federal Supreme Court. Garneau's launch party was mired in interruptions as protesters interrupted the speakers that barged into the hall in Plattsburgh. Voter participation was incredibly high in western Adirondack, a region where Conservatives have dominated for generations, as Liberal voters were fired up and eager to protect what they believed to be the defining feature of their province, so much so that the Great Park region is featured prominently on the back of the Ten Pound note.

John McDonald III travelled across the province making speeches, even going to western Adirondack where few Liberal leaders campaigned due to the perceived impossibility of winning seats there. McDonald was becoming so popular that NECN made the decision to carry one of his speeches in Watertown, and according to some research it was the most watch programme of the night, beating out other popular primetime shows. In keeping with the Fairness in Broadcasting Act 1963, NECN's coverage of a speech by Garneau in Schenectady had very low viewership, coming all the way behind a re-run of All The Queens Men, itself the 6th most popular show of that night.

Despite strong voter turnout and enthusiasm, there were concerns of McDonald's leadership. He was one of the most leftist Liberals to have won the party leadership in recent memory, and had once registered with the federal Labour Party to run as an MP for the Rensselaer riding. Even those who were concerned with development in the Great Park were put off by McDonald's politics.

Even with all these misgivings, voters delivered McDonald and the Adirondack Liberals their first government since 2005, ending the twelve-year Premiership of Garneau. Many political analysts contend that had McDonald been a more traditional Liberal, it would be likely that the Adirondack Liberals would have won over forty seats, and the Conservatives would have been gutted. After his loss, Garneau announced his intentions to step down as leader of the Conservatives, with a leadership election set to take place in early 2018. In January of 2018, Garneau stepped down as a MLA, and the Conservatives won the Ticonderoga—Whitehall by-election.

The Conservative Leadership election is currently set for 18 March 2018. Federal Conservative MP Elise Stefanik is facing off Deputy Leader Simon Levasseur, and most polls show Stefanik holds a slim lead over Levasseur, which would make her one of the few native Anglophone leaders of the Conservative Party in the past sixty years.

 

[CosmicAsh]

Considering the fact that USSR ITTL is stated to be similar to OTL China, I'd like to know about Internet and its likely censorship in the Soviet Union. I also wonder what this man might be up to...

I would imagine his career is similar, but much less flashy in the Soviet Union. My guess is that his brother is a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, but Pavel Valeryevich is either in exile in another country nearby that acts as the Soviet underground, or he's simply in prison for working on the Soviet version of Facebook and assisting those who are critical of the government.

Excellent updates regarding the U.S. This fuels a lot of questions, some old some new:

So i gather the Nationals enjoy calling themselves the "Party of Lincoln". Does Labour counts Teddy as being in their Field? Since i gather the Progressive Party was much closer to it's sucessor then to the conservative Nationals.

And Now: More questions.

What about Hamilton and Jefferson? Which Party most identifies with them? And is Jefferson less renowned than IOTL, since he only served for 4 years while his predecessor Hamilton served for 16 and his successor James Monroe for 10?

Henry Clay, the only Whig president, and a president for 12 years. What is his legacy? Was there a Mexican-American war during his term? Is he seen as a good or bad president?

And finally: Is there a Mount Rushmore? And what faces are there? If i had to pick 4 i would guess Hamilton, Jefferson(or Monroe, or Clay, not sure), Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt

The Nationals are indeed the "Party of Lincoln," which they like to proudly proclaim.

Theodore Roosevelt is claimed by Social Labor, given his progressive streak, the Nationals don't want anything to do with his legacy, although the Nationals' current conservationist streak does stem from the time of Teddy Roosevelt. In general, green politics are big between both parties due to Roosevelt's Presidency.

The Nationals always claim Jefferson, given their commitment to federalism with a strong federal government, far beyond some of the more radical members of Social Labor that want to abolish states. Similar to the "uneasiness" of God in the Democratic Party platform is how Social Labor looks at Hamilton the man.

Jefferson is seen as more of a figure of the pre-Constitution era than a President of any note. Monroe is indeed seen as a much more influential President, and his term in office is categorised by the general expansion of the American economy and peace with the European nations which border it.

Henry Clay roughly holds the same legacy in the national psyche as Andrew Jackson does. Everyone knows of him, everyone knows of his Presidency. It was Clay who truly united the country under his American system for foreign policy and domestic affairs, which built railroads, canals, and forged a relationship with New England to actually connect the Hudson with the Great Lakes, greatly enriching both countries (the Eire Canal was started before New England became a dominion, and was finished under Prime Minister Webster).

The Mexican-American War came under President Calhoun, who embarked upon an expansionist policy to produce more Slave territories for the southern planters, urged on by Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. This is why so much land was taken.

There is a Mount Rushmore. It displays Alexander Hamilton, Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. It was controversial at the time, because Roosevelt was still President when the plans were put into place in 1925.

 

[Cybercat]

Where do the provinces of New England fall in regards to party affiliation, which ones strongly back labor or conservative (like blue dates or red states)

 

[CosmicAsh]

The 2016 United States presidential election, 2016 was held on November 8th, 2016 to determine the next President of the United States. Breaking with most conventional norms, incumbent President Janet Yellen declared her intention to run for a second term in office. Freshmen Senator Marco Rubio of Cuba was able to win the crowded National nomination, and President Yellen fended off her own primary challenge.

The general election campaign was remarkably civil, with the President and Senator Rubio disagreeing over matters of policy and holding a total of four debates. Both sides agreed to eschew negative advertising, promoting a hopeful vision for the future of America. Rubio campaigned aggressively in the Midwest, seeking to turn rural and urban voters, while Yellen spent her time campaigning in the South to drive turnout among African-Americans and poorer rural whites. As it would be, both strategies were successful, Yellen won Mississippi and Georgia, but Rubio won a devastating victory by making Chicago and Detroit competitive, enough to combine with suburban voters and decent rural turnout to swing both Illinois and Michigan to him. This was the first election in which Social Labor did not garner more than thirty five percent of the vote in Cuba, as the state strongly supported their Senator.

(this is a blurb - I fully intend on making this a full wikipage. Probably late spring/early summer )

 

[CosmicAsh]

Where do the provinces of New England fall in regards to party affiliation, which ones strongly back labor or conservative (like blue dates or red states)

Provincially, the provinces are fairly different than their Federal counterparts in terms of party affiliation. On the Federal level, however:

Strong Conservative "True Blue"
Adirondack
Plymouth
Rhode Island

Swing "Neutral"
Connecticut
Maine
New Hampshire
Vermont
New Brunswick

Strong Labour "Red Wall"
Massachusetts Bay
Long Island
Prince Edward Island
Nova Scotia

 

[CosmicAsh]

The Canadian federal election, 2016 was the 41st federal election to the Canadian House of Commons. It saw the election of the first New Democratic government of Canada, and saw the return of a minority government, which had not happened since 1972. The election was the last in which the Quebec nationalist party Union Québécois contested a Canadian federal election, after it failed to win a single riding two elections in a row. Support instead returned to the Progressive Conservatives, who obtained a majority of the MPs in Quebec, the first time since the Premiership of Brian Mulroney.

Prime Minister Dick Harris had overseen the crash of the Vancouver Housing Market, which plunged Canada into a steep recession, furthered by the continued low prices of oil and natural gas, which effectively put all of Western Canada into depression levels of economic activity, the country as a whole only kept afloat by eastern Canada's trade with New England and the United States, along with strong manufacturing growth in southern Ontario. Quebec also saw economic growth for the first time in many years, as the Progressive Conservatives passed legislation which eased potential Quebecer trade and immigration with France. This, coupled with several acts to enshrine Quebec's place within Canada, made the province not only support the Prime Minister, but become a centre of economic activity. Capital from New England flowed into Montreal between 2012 and 2016, and it became the fastest growing city in Canada, especially after Vancouver's housing market collapsed.

The Prime Minister did little to help Columbia, instead the Progressive Conservatives passed legislation that assisted Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Athabasca with the approval of two new oil pipelines to the United States, as well as one to the Columbian shore. While the Prime Minister said this would create jobs in the province, there were far more problems as both Seattle and Beaconsfield were feeling the effects of the housing collapse, neither of which were near enough to the pipeline to have any effect.

It was this double standard that John Horgan attacked the Prime Minister and the PC Government, insisting that something must be done for Western Canada, specifically Columbia, Canada's largest province. One of his proposals was to increase the federal transfer payments to Columbia in order to try and bolster economic growth through the provincial government. He also proposed a series of public works and tax reforms to jump start the Canadian economy. The Prime Minister attacked these ideas finding them to be an overreach of the federal government in the first place, and that the recession was simply the result of the over inflated Columbia housing market, which many had seen the warning signs of in the past, it wasn't eastern Canada's job to pay for Columbia's mistakes (according to the Prime Minister).

The remarks were met with a firestorm of criticism in Columbia and the Prime Minister's home province of Yukon, but with quiet applause in Quebec and Ontario. Polls began to move in the PCs favour in eastern Canada, with some indicating they would pick up seats in Newfoundland for the first time in two decades, and that they would retain their majority in Ontario and capture a vast majority of Quebec's seats. It wasn't until Horgan abandoned the NDP campaign in Quebec to focus on Ontario did the polls move back towards the NDP there and swing the national pendulum towards a hung Parliament or a slim NDP majority.

Despite the Prime Minister's disparaging comments about Western Canada, the PC support in Alberta and Saskatchewan was unwavering. The voters were strongly opposed to what they saw as a "bailout" of Columbia, they were hard hit by the low price globally of oil and other resources, they did not see the need to now pay more to make sure Columbia could profit from something that was seen as "under their own control." PC MP Stephen Harper of Calgary Southwest was the most blunt, having gone on record saying: "It's their own problem, let them deal with it. If they want help, ask America for all I care."

All was not well for the NDP in Columbia, however. Despite the fact that the Liberals were essentially a non-factor there and the PCs were so disparaging of the province, there was a disconnect between eastern Columbia and western Columbia. The more rural east resembled Alberta and Saskatchewan in many ways. Prince George MP Sarah Palin, the deputy leader of the Progressive Conservatives, even touted the failure of the Vancouver-Seattle-Beaconsfield metropolitan area as an example of the "Same-old failed New Democratic left-wing policies," and stated that it was all the more reason to vote for the PCs in the upcoming election.

On the Liberal side of the campaign, Chrystia Freeland was simply focused on maintaining a solid base of support in the House of Commons to build off of, and to not fall into the same death spiral that Union Québécois had entered into after losing big during the 2000 federal election. Bill Graham's disastrous scandals still hung over the heads of many Canadians, which gutted the Liberal front bench. Freeland was alone one of the few Liberal MPs who was not ensnared in any of the four major scandals erupting under his Premiership. She focused on campaigning only in Ontario and Quebec, promising that a more moderate path between the extremes was needed, attacking the NDP for its radical policies. She also categorically refused to ever enter into a coalition with either party, saying that Liberal voters vote for a Liberal government, not a NDP or PC government.

Her message saw success in Ontario, where polls showed she would starve off a complete rout, but were less promising in Quebec, with the PCs clearly ascendant. Newfoundland and the Labrador Territory were never seriously contested by other parties, and Freeland could count on her MPs being returned from Atlantic Canada.

When the results finally ticked in, it was clear that Canada was a very divided country. The NDP emerged as the largest party in the House of Commons, but was well short of forming a majority government. With the PCs and Liberals not interested in working with them, they had the support of the sole Greens MP Blair Wilson. Even with the Greens support, the NDP was 10 seats short of forming a majority, but they still formed 23rd Canadian Ministry. Few believed the government would last long, and by the end of 2017 already looked like it was on shaky ground. The government finally fell apart after a successful Vote of No Confidence passed by PC and Liberal MPs on March 9, 2018.

(Hope my Canadian followers will forgive me for any glaring inaccuracies with Canadian politics here! I am also going to trial my first "live" portion of Our Fair Country with the Canadian federal election, a test run for when I finally do the New England one.)