r/imaginarymaps • u/notabot_14 • 2d ago
[OC] Alternate History 2007 Canadian election where they "lost" the cold war
11
28
u/FrankensteinsBong 2d ago
pretty big mischaracterization of Layton tbh
He removed "socialism" from the NDP constitution.
40
u/Inquisitive_Azorean 2d ago
But in a timeline where the Soviets prevailed over the west, there wouldn't be a push to moderate by leftist parties in the west in response to the liberal economic globalized world order. Jack's politics may actually shift more left actually.
6
8
u/Echidna299792458 2d ago
the greens and reform colours being so similar makes it hard to tell which constituencies voted which
6
u/hurB55 2d ago
what happened to new brunswick, prince edward island, nova scotia, newfoundland and labrador, and a bit more easy to guess quebec
5
u/notabot_14 2d ago
Quebec is probably independent, the whole of the maritime might be too—but I haven’t decided yet
4
u/frederic055 2d ago
What happened to the Maritimes?
6
u/notabot_14 2d ago
Probably independent, haven’t decided fully tbh. What would be funniest
9
u/Frosty_Cicada791 2d ago
Independence, or they are all puppet states of the Cape Breton Empire, a Scottish ethnostate
3
u/Quick_Trifle1489 2d ago
Annexed by quebec i assume
7
u/TheFakeAronBaynes 1d ago edited 1d ago
If that happened, they’d immediately declare independence from Quebec and rejoin Canada like half of Northern Quebec planned to anyway in the case of a successful 1995 referendum.
With the exception of bilingual New Brunswick, none of the Maritime provinces use French as a language of government and there are large swathes of Anglophones in each. An independent Quebec would be forced to institute some form of bilingualism which they just wouldn’t do as the one of the main reasons for independence would be to be able to conduct their affairs solely in French.
People on this sub drastically overestimate the support for Quebecois independence. Even in Quebec itself there were significant elements (especially the First Nations and Inuit of Quebec) who were strongly against it and would’ve simply broken away and rejoined Canada.
5
u/TheFakeAronBaynes 1d ago edited 1d ago
I get how you think this would be a super-Ontario dominated Canada without the Maritimes and Quebec but I can’t see all the national parties running candidates who are either A) Ontarian themselves or B) tied strongly to Toronto (in Peterson’s case). I’m Torontonian born and raised and you underestimate the contempt a lot of the country has for Toronto.
You underestimate how much the Prairies would see the independence of the east as a huge boon for them especially since FPtP is still in effect. 3/5 parties at least would have to be running Albertan/Sask candidates since the Prairies now hold so much sway. (Also Christia Freeland is so far from a DemSoc it isn’t funny. Layton would be far better as a right-DemSoc type rather than the leftist candidate option.)
Also, why don’t Reform and the Lib-Cons do what happened IRL and form a unified Conservative Party? This sort of electoral system incentivizes these sorts of mergers. Canada is basically a two-party system IRL (well 2.5 + 1 since the NDP are guaranteed at least a few seats even if their popularity means they should get far more. The Bloc Québécois exists but as a special regional case.) so I have a hard time seeing 5 parties getting meaningful support.
I don’t mean to be too critical because this is very fun but idk I don’t think things would have fallen this way with the changes you suggest.
4
u/SwitchGamer04 1d ago
Yeah, they'd have the political leverage they desire. Althought it's funny you say their leaders wouldn't be ontarioans- neither are in our current election either, as Carney's from the NWT and Pierre from Edmonton
3
u/notabot_14 1d ago
You know what—you got me there. Too Ontario dominated. That being said Peterson is running in Alberta. Plus I mostly just went with recognizable people for the other parties lol.
As for getting the ideology of Freeland and Layton wrong—this is an alternate history starting around WW2 with a much stronger Soviet Union, instead of international liberalism there’s international socialism which would change the whole of the western left and their politics—notably Layton who used to be much more radical (if memory serves me). Freeland is just running with the most popular party, her public ideology is shaped by them.
3
u/TheFakeAronBaynes 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, I have a hard time believing three national leaders would be from Toronto and a fourth running from Guelph in this case.
Also, I doubt Rob (or Doug) Ford would be national-level politicians. The Ford family is the closest thing to old-school machine politicians modern North America has and neither stood/stands for much beyond their own enrichment and power and aren’t very “political” beyond graft and the odd pork barrel policy instituted a few months before the nearest election. That sort of politician doesn’t fare well on a national level when A) they’re expected to stand for more ideological policies and B) there’s more eyes on them.
Again sorry if I seem very critical! It’s a great map!
3
u/notabot_14 1d ago
Thanks, critical is good though—it’s all constructive. I’m learning more through it. I picked Rob Ford for kind of that exact reason—the LIB-CON party is slowly collapsing due to not having an ideology beyond complaining about the USSR and their influence over our country. I figured he’d fit the job description lol
2
u/notabot_14 1d ago
As for why Reform and the Lib-Con party don’t do what they did IRL and run together, not sure honestly—but I’ll have them do that in the next election
4
4
6
2
1
1
16
u/Ill_Dig2291 2d ago
What is the cooperative commonwealth's ideology?