WI Turks and Caicos become Canadian territory?

Sachyriel

Banned
Canada has a CARRIBCOM when unification happens. Seriously there aren't enough people on that island to make a difference about Unification in the Forces, but the military has to protect the area anyways.

Tourism rates increase to the area, however international backlash occurs as it is seen as an imperialistic trading of is;ands from one part of the British Empire to the other. "Canada" has the same queen, same style of government and similar foreign affairs to Britain, the fact that they got a few islands won't even increase our prestige so much as make the rest of the world sigh and complain about those British Monarchs who think they can make their empire seem more "Independent" by giving a few islands to a "different" country.
 
We get to spend our own money in our own slice of paradise.

I agree fully. Nice to go somewhere warm where one doesn't have to buy extra travellers insurance or worry about the local law enforcement.

As to a Forces command in the islands, I think there would need to be a strong presence to deter smuggling.
 
I move there. Many people I know share the sentiment that if Canada existed to the south rather than the frigid north, it would be the perfect country. I need more sun and health care, to cover my eventual skin cancer.
 
The Canadian Coast Guard might have become an armed force, since they would need to be employed in seaborn enforcement around the islands.

That or perhaps the RCN & then the "unified" Maritime Command would receive more funding to maintain sovereignty patrols in the region.
 
T&C, or the West Indies depending. There have been numerous studies and commissions on the question. POD 1965.

Too bad you want a 1965 POD - move it up a few years (say between 1958 and 1961), and you'd have the entire West Indies Federation become a province (and then some) of Canada. Apart from that, the remaining "Little Eight" could work (plus the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos), but only if the Government of the day was serious enough about it (and with the consultation of the people there themselves), and at least between 1960 and 1962. After 1962, it's ASB.
 
Too bad you want a 1965 POD - move it up a few years (say between 1958 and 1961), and you'd have the entire West Indies Federation become a province (and then some) of Canada. Apart from that, the remaining "Little Eight" could work (plus the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos), but only if the Government of the day was serious enough about it (and with the consultation of the people there themselves), and at least between 1960 and 1962. After 1962, it's ASB.

I couldn’t see the West Indies Federation getting Provincial status due to racial attitudes of the time (especially in Western Canada).
 
I couldn’t see the West Indies Federation getting Provincial status due to racial attitudes of the time (especially in Western Canada).

There were negotiations taking place at least before 1961 (the year it all fell apart), but it could still work since the West Indies Federation was keen on the idea (and probably so was the UK as well, for obvious reasons).
 
Too bad you want a 1965 POD - move it up a few years (say between 1958 and 1961), and you'd have the entire West Indies Federation become a province (and then some) of Canada. Apart from that, the remaining "Little Eight" could work (plus the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos), but only if the Government of the day was serious enough about it (and with the consultation of the people there themselves), and at least between 1960 and 1962. After 1962, it's ASB.

Wasn't there some kind of referendum in the 80's?
 
Wasn't there some kind of referendum in the 80's?

Thta's just the Turks and Caicos, though, but it was ignored in Ottawa. I'm thinking that since RB also said "or the West Indies depending" with a 1965 POD. With a 1965 POD, it would be too late to get the constitutents of the West Indies Federation.
 
If you want just the Turks and Caicos, you can do this post-1965. But if you want the whole West Indies, 1960-61 is about as last as you can get.

Now, as far as political concerns go, I don't think that's a really big deal. One should remember that the population of the WIF was just a hair over 3 million, as opposed to Canada's 18 million at the time, so Canada would still dominate the Federation. I cannot see it being one province, either - part of the reason the Federation collapsed was because Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago dominated it completely. I think you'd end up with a West Indies territory and the provinces of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

OK, assuming you've got that done, you'd have to have Canada be able to protect and work with those islands, which would mean major changes to the setup and systems of the Canadian Forces, and a major growth in the Maritime Command, for a bunch of reasons. This probably means that Bonaventure stays in the fleet, just for her patrol aircraft, and the Maritime Command and/or Canadian Coast Guard would have to buy up a bunch of new vessels to keep an eye on what was going on in a large portion of the Caribbean, because that is now their waters.

With Canada's wealth a substantial migration of Jamaicans and Trinidadians is inevitable, but by 1970 I don't think this would be much of an issue either. And yes, Canadian (and probably American, too) tourists would almost certainly flood the places, resulting in a major tourist industry and a massive rise in the standard of living of the islands.
 
Now, as far as political concerns go, I don't think that's a really big deal. One should remember that the population of the WIF was just a hair over 3 million, as opposed to Canada's 18 million at the time, so Canada would still dominate the Federation. I cannot see it being one province, either - part of the reason the Federation collapsed was because Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago dominated it completely. I think you'd end up with a West Indies territory and the provinces of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

I agree, TheMann, though I'd split the "West Indies" territory into two. I could almost see it now:

*Province of Jamaica: Jamaica proper, plus the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos, and Antigua-Barbuda (around the time of the OTL dissolution of the West Indies Federation, Antigua was looking to become part of Jamaica)
*Province of Trinidad: Trinidad and Tobago as in OTL, plus Grenada (same thing here with Grenada, but substitute Jamaica with Trinidad)
*Province of the Leeward Islands: St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla plus Montserrat
*Province of the Windward Islands: Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines

I'm sure of one thing, for sure - the CBC is going to have a field day over this, particularly once it becomes feasible to transmit television programmes from Toronto and Montréal by satellite. It's also probably going to help Dief a lot.

OK, assuming you've got that done, you'd have to have Canada be able to protect and work with those islands, which would mean major changes to the setup and systems of the Canadian Forces, and a major growth in the Maritime Command, for a bunch of reasons. This probably means that Bonaventure stays in the fleet, just for her patrol aircraft, and the Maritime Command and/or Canadian Coast Guard would have to buy up a bunch of new vessels to keep an eye on what was going on in a large portion of the Caribbean, because that is now their waters.

Which could very well be a boon for the Canadian economy, particularly the Maritimes.

With Canada's wealth a substantial migration of Jamaicans and Trinidadians is inevitable, but by 1970 I don't think this would be much of an issue either. And yes, Canadian (and probably American, too) tourists would almost certainly flood the places, resulting in a major tourist industry and a massive rise in the standard of living of the islands.

True - which could lead to the Caribbean being a solid base of support for the PC's - hence no split in the Tories.
 
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