Canada

Bienvenue au Canada. The Non-Crappy Region!

This region is a true constitutional democracy. All decisions affecting how Canada is run, as well as how the delegate votes on UN resolutions, are administered through our off-site forum.

History

Main article: History of Canada

Canada is the land of ice, snow, beer, doughnuts, hockey and universal health care. At Nationstates, Canada was created late in the year 2002, by a predecessor nation of The True Domination.

Not much is known about the region's early history, as that historical information has died along with the region's initial inhabitants. Reports of the early days of the region indicate it was sparsely populated.

It is known that by April, 2003, the region was at a healthy 175 nations, and was led by a delegate called Taiga. By April or May of 2003, Las Chupacabras became delegate, and imposed Canada's first constitution on the region. Elections were held, electing 14 members to the inaugural government.

After an eventful first month, rule under the Las Chupacabras constitution began unravelling under the weight of its large size. After some stagnation, The True Domination briefly succeeded Las Chupacabras as delegate.

Elections were held by The True Domination, but by that time, residents of the region became disillusioned with the government structure. Only four ministers were elected, and not a single cabinet meeting was called during this second government.

The True Domination left the region for a stint with the Rejected Realms Army in August, 2003, allowing Las Chupacabras to once again become the delegate. The True Domination returned and attempted to take over the delegacy from a clearly disinterested Las Chupacabras. A nation called the Queendom of Tofiti also vied for the delegacy. In quick succession at the end of August, 2003, Tofiti became delegate, succeeding from Las Chupacabras, and then the following day, was in turn succeeded by The True Domination.

The True Domination remained in power until January 2004. Under his stewardship, the region of Canada stagnated, with little growth in population and no activity in Canada's forums. Near the end of The True Domination's reign as delegate, Canada started making attempts to integrate itself on the international scene. Bweezystan staffed an embassy in The South Pacific, and began discussions on reviving the region's government structure through a new constitution.

Bweezystan became delegate of Canada on January 13, 2004. Shortly thereafter, the new constitution was unanimously approved by a referendum. Riding the wave of renewed activity in the region, elections were held in February, 2004, electing Canada's first functioning cabinet in over six months.

Under the new structure, and with renewed enthusiasm from a solid core of a dozen nations, the region began to grow and prosper. Embassies were opened in regions such as The North Pacific, assistance was offered to The South Pacific when it was subject to a coup attempt by El Sabah Nur, and recruitment attempts began in earnest, greatly increasing the region's population and activity.

Basic laws were also enacted, governing ejections from the region, an intelligence agency was created, and Canada's defence system was improved.

In early, March, 2004, Bweezystan announced it would be stepping down from the delegacy. On March 28, 2004, Checkers McDog took over as delegate.

Under the leadership of Checkers McDog, Canada passed a Cabinet Disclosure law, forcing Cabinet to post weekly reports to inform the public of its activities. This accountabiilty measure was well received. A Conflict of Interest Guideline was passed to ensure that Canada's government members advised the citizenry of any other government positions they may be holding in other regions, while a simple dispute resolution mechanism was also established.

Many more recruitment drives occurred, briefly pushing the regional population over 500 nations. Embassies were opened in a dozen regions, further increasing Canada's visibility across Nationstates. Canada also created the Canadian Sports Agency, which held a regional Olympics, expanded its Role Play system thanks to the Leadership of MrPopo, and formed a Canadian Press Agency. A House of Commons was also organized, with political parties. Any Resident nation not in government may pose questions of the government in the House of Commons.

In late September, 2004, after a programming glitch, long time Defence Minister Carbanousa became delegate for eight hours. He was quickly replaced by Checkers McDog at the next update.

Currently, Canada continues to promote the traditional Canadian values of Peace, Order and Good Government, and is continuing with its Democratic Traditions and advances in International Diplomacy.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Canada

Canada is a Constitutional Democracy. The Constitution mandates elections every three months for the ministries of Regional Affairs, Defence, Foreign Affairs, Justice and the ever popular Ministry of Doughnuts and Beer. By constitutional decree, the Delegate of the region is the Prime Minister, as elected by Nationstates game-play mechanics. As such, unlike the other five ministers, the Prime Minister is technically always fighting an election campaign and can be replaced at any moment.

The five elected ministers together with the Prime Minister/Delegate constitute the Cabinet. The Cabinet is Canada's official governing body.

All residents not in cabinet can participate in the governing process through the House of Commons. There they can join or create a political party, ask questions of the current cabinet members and share their ideas.

Government Officials

The regional delegate is granted the position of Prime Minister and sits in Cabinet along with five other Ministers who must earn their seat in Cabinet by way of regional election. Regional elections are held once every three months. In total, the Cabinet is comprised of six nations.

See also

• Elections in Canada
• List of Canadian Cabinets

House of Commons

While the cabinet is the elected government, the House of Commons has an equally important role in the governing process of Canada. The House of Commons is where nations can set up political parties, debate issues and policies that Cabinet is dealing with or has dealt with, and even advance their very own ideas. The key purpose of the House of Commons is to keep all nations, regardless of Cabinet involvement, interested in Canadian political issues, hopefully creating a strong opposition that helps to keep the Cabinet accountable.

The HoC may ultimately lead to a party system in Canada's electoral process, bringing NationStates ever so closer to RL politics. The possibility of electoral reform is being currently discussed.

See also

• List of political parties in Canada

Appointed Officials

Along with their respective habitual duties and privileges, the members of cabinet are also responsible for appointing several regional officials for certain tasks or areas that require attention. These appointees are usually selected on criteria such as their availability and readiness for duty or their proficiency in a particular task. As such, appointed officials often stay on longer at their position then cabinet ministers. It is also possible for a cabinet minister to be appointed for a position.

In addition, the Canadian Regional Defence Force is consists of soldiers who are duly appointed by the Minister of Defence.
Canada’s vast network of foreign embassies are managed by ambassadors who are also rightfully appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Law Library

Main article(s): Law Library of Canada

Maintained by the Minister of Justice, the Law Library of Canada is the official archive of all current and past Constitutional and Legal documents.

Since its creation the Library has undergone constant progress and improvement of its contents.

As well as archiving dissused legislation and former versions of the constitution, the Law Library contains:

• The Constitution of Canada
• Ejection and Board Suspension Guidelines
• Standards for Diplomatic Relations
• Roleplay Rules and Guidelines
• Government Conflict of Interest Guidleines
• Dispute Resolution Legislation
• Cabinet Disclosure Legislation

Canadian Regional Defence Force

Geography

Canada's geography is based on the outline of the North American continent. NoFunNinjas was Canada's latest cartographer however he has recently resigned from his duties. A new cartographer will be appointed shortly. Click here for a high-resolution version.

Diplomacy

Canada treasures the values of democracy and one of the many time-honoured standard activies in Canada has been using diplomacy to fan the flames of democracy to other regions. Canada understands that diplomacy is essential, in order to ensure a significant place in NationStates and to increase our knowledge of other regions.

Another characteristic to Canada’s approach to diplomacy has been the use of an unwritten rule that has been established over time: The Hudson Bay Doctrine

In order to best protect Canadian sovereignty, formal alliances with other regions ought to be avoided.

Canada’s diplomatic efforts are directed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Many MoFA of Canada have made noteworthy contributions to the cause of diplomacy. However it is conceivable that none were as prolific or as successful as Judith Gap.

See also

• Canadian Foreign Policy

Culture & Recreation

More than just a true bastion of democracy, peace, order and good government, Canada is above all else, a great region for chitchat, debates, games, fantasy sports and even good old-fashioned high quality spamming.

The Water Cooler

The water cooler is perhaps Canada’s most popular OOC section. Home to such topics as “Name 3 things” and “Describe the above poster” it is also a place where nations can “Rant, discuss and complain” about whatever it is they have on their mind. Topics like “How was your day?” and “What are you thinking?” are fine examples. Most importantly it is where a Canadian nation can chat and get familiar with others.

OOC Debates & Discussions

The Real Life - Canadian Politics and Current Events sub-forum is home to open discussions on worldly events with a natural emphasis on Canadian issues. Some of the latest discussions covered topics such as the 2006 Canadian Federal Election, the Danish embassy burnings, the death penalty and the Liberal Party’s leadership race.

Fantasy Sports

Canadians are also avid sports fans and enjoy the odd fantasy league now and then. The yahoo fantasy leagues take up most of the sporting activity including the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL. The fantasy leagues are frequently inter-regional and very competitive. Canada currently enjoys sharing fantasy leagues with Texas and Equilism.

Arcade

The Arcade is where online games are posted and where they can played and enjoyed by everyone.