Work Text:
To whoever is reading this, hello. This is my first ever upload to Ao3, and I understand that this aint exactly the fanfic type post that this site is known for. But there is also nothing stopping me from posting alternate history on this website, and I feel like this is the type of thing you guys would appreciate more than other forums. As for the scenario itself, it's not really a full transformation of the world, and more so a full transformation of one country, aka Canada. Obviously this is a scenario made for fun and not really realistic. It's not 100% unrealistic, because if I did not care about realism at all I would have every bit of progress made by Canada in this timeline happen in like a decade. But obviously this was never going to happen irl.
This first post is supposed to be a basic overview of Canada in this timeline. It's basically meant for first time readers to read to get a sense of what the scenario is about. I will make more posts in the future that go into more depth on certain events. We start at the point of divergence…
We begin in 1867, with Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. In our timeline, he did some pretty messed up things to indigenous folks in this country. However, in this timeline, Macdonald takes a moment to look at the young confederation. Particularly, the large French population living in Quebec, leftover from the days of French Colonization. Macdonald sees co-operation between the English and French parts of Canada to be vital to its existence. And it leads Macdonald to form a belief that Canada’s greatest strength lies in its ability to co-operate with and even embrace other groups and minorities. Macdonald conveys this idea of tolerance as Canada's patriotic duty, and as a way to separate itself from the USA and its more racist policies. Macdonald had just unknowingly created the idea that would later be named “Progressive Nationalism”, the belief that left-wing policies and beliefs are tied to a nation's identity and patriotic duty.
As part of this Progressive Nationalism, Macdonald takes a more moderate position on Indigenous peoples within Canada. It will absolutely still take awhile for indigenous groups to gain equal rights, and many will still be stripped of their lands. But in 1870, the “Dominion Indigenous Lands Act” was passed, preventing the selling or alteration of indigenous reserves without a supermajority vote in parliament, and requires that the Canadian government consults the people living on the reserves before any changes are to be made. This act… was far from perfect, and some legally dubious landgrabs still occur. But a legal precedent had been set in Canada, making future landgrabs more difficult. This act also comes with the ability for Indigenous people to travel and work off the reserve, although they have to still live on the reserve for now. The Residential School system is also abandoned, and indigenous kids are allowed to attend normal schools.
It will take awhile for leftist policies, like Socialism and Syndicalism to gain mainstream traction in Canada. But the ideas of Marxism do begin to grow amongst labour movements in Canada. Marx himself even visited Canada in 1881 to deliver lectures to labour movements within the nation. Meanwhile after a tense debate amongst Canadian conservatives and progressives, Metis insurrectionist Louis Riel is sentenced to merely 10 years of prison, as opposed to the death sentence in our timeline. Riel didn't even serve the full 10 years, he only served 6. And Riel, for his actions, solidified himself as a figure akin to John Brown. Brown himself is a figure admired by Canadians in this timeline, take a wild guess as to why.
Coming into the turn of the century, we see the debate regarding same sex relations begin to enter mainstream, whilst women gain the right to vote nationwide in 1900, after already having this right in a few select provinces. The turn of the century also saw scandalous fashion styles from the younger folk, including filth such as ankle exposure and slightly more form-fitting dresses. The backlash to the older folks' backlash to the less modest clothing, is tenfold what it was in our timeline. It sets a precedent for future generations to intentionally provoke conservative minded individuals in both Canada and abroad with whatever is angering them, like "indecent" clothing.
Inevitably, our progressive Canada was tossed into the Great War in 1914. To put things simply, Canadian troops were widely praised by civilians, as Canadians treated civilians so well that many even protected civilians from harm from other allied forces. However, Canadian forces also garner a reputation for the terror and brutality inflicted onto military forces from the Central Powers. WW1 is a very important time for social progress in Canada. Due to the government and militaries unwillingness to anger its own troops, same sex activity is tolerated by the Canadian Military, while soldiers grow to be indifferent or even supportive of same sex activity after witnessing their fellow soldiers partake in it. Women were also allowed to enter combat roles by 1917, to fuel Britain's growing need for more meat to throw at the enemy.
After WW1, the Canadian Government tried to hold trials for homosexual soldiers. However, in late 1919, tons of WW1 vets, many gay, many not gay, marched onto Parliament Hill. Under threat of armed insurrection, Canadian conservatives have no choice but to allow same-sex activity in Canada. As prohibition was introduced in the USA during the 1920s, Canadians made quite a lot of money selling alcohol across the border. Another item that ended up being smuggled across the border, is menstruation pads. In the 1920s, menstruation products, while being sold in most Canadian health stores, were still seen as obscene in the USA. Around this time is when the USA began to get a lot more pissed about Canada's social progressivism, partially due to all the stuff being sent across the border. This resulted in Canadians wanting to piss off Americans more, greatly accelerating the transition to less modest clothing in Canada. This created a loop of Americans being mad at Canadians for doing something, Canadians doing that something more often and more extremely, and Americans getting even more angry. This is such a loopy loop that the idea of men wearing more feminine clothing, and women wearing more masculine clothing, becomes more normalized in Canada.
The 1920s was a decade of economic prosperity for Canada… surely nothing bad could happen to the economy, right? The great depression curbed stomped the economic prosperity and optimism of Canada. A nation that had grown used to the prosperity of the roaring 20s now had to contend with mass unemployment, economic downturn, and a lack of action from the government. It was under this backdrop that the Communist Party of Canada, led by Tim Buck gained massive popularity. And in 1930, the CPC, led by Tim Buck defeated Mackenzie King in the General Elections. Buck's government popularized Marxism and leftist ideas in Canada, and did things like nationalize healthcare, put subsidies on groceries, and provide grants to Canadians suffering from the depression. Every Canadian Worker was also granted the right to unionize by Buck. Buck also passed the “Equal Citizens Act” which made all Canadians, regardless of race, equal in regards to government and the law, including indigenous groups.
Following the invasion of Poland in 1939, Canada entered WW2 against the Fascist Axis Powers in Europe, and later the empire of Japan. Nazi Germany in particular, spent much of its existence demonizing Canada and its progressivism, portraying them as weak and immoral and corrupted. The Axis powers did not think Canada was capable of waging effective warfare… and they were so wrong to make that assumption. Canadian forces took all the brutality they were known for during WW1, and amplified it tenfold against the Fascist powers, which were seen as the sum of everything Canada stood against. It got so bad that Nazi troops began to prefer fighting in the eastern fronts against the Soviets over fighting against Canadian armies. Like WW1, WW2 also served as an opportunity for all the social progress achieved in the past 2 decades to solidify itself, mostly amongst Canadian soldiers. Notably, the idea of cross dressing became VERY normalized for Canadians, effectively ensuring that tomboys and femboys (obviously they aren't gonna be called THAT, it's still the 1940s not the 2020s) could exist in Canada by the end of the war, and go out in public with literally 0 repercussion.
After WW2 was over, the Cold War began. As the USA and USSR split off into their own separate cliques, Canada just did its own thing. Canada did not even intend to join NATO until Tim Buck was voted out in 1948. After a peaceful demonstration nationwide, Trans rights also began to be adopted by the Canadian Government, although existing medical procedures for sex changes were still quite rudimentary. Canada, despite leaning towards the western block during the Cold War, often adopted a stance on not interfering with other nations and wars, especially if it involved propping up an existing authoritarian regime like in Korea. Canada also kept a lukewarm relationship with the USSR, and maintained positive relations with Cuba following its revolution.
The 1950s marked the beginning of the “Culture Wars” between the USA and Canada. Unlike the Culture Wars in our timeline, the Culture Wars in this timeline are actually a bit interesting and impactful. Basically, Canada and the USA, two very similar yet different nations, often clashed between Canada's Ultra-Progressivism and the States pearl clutching Conservatism. Nowhere was this more apparent than television and movies. Canada's rating system from the beginning was a lot more relaxed than the states. Complete filth that would never be allowed on American TV at the time like… a married couple sharing a bed… was very normal in Canadian media. Not to mention that things like same sex relations were rated equally to heterosexual relations in Canada, whilst it was still outlawed in the States. And as the USA modernized its highways and adopted the car, Canada continued to improve existing passenger rail, ensuring that all of Canada's even semi-major cities could be reached by train.
Blah blah blah, Cuban Missile Crisis, Canada is a major part in convincing the USSR to back down, and some American conservatives wanted to “liberate” Canada, but that ain't happening. Canada also harbored US draft dodgers and provided aid to North Vietnam alongside Sweden during the Vietnam War. Eventually, the slow march of social progress reached the USA, with many civil rights movements popping up by the late 60s and 70s. Canadians had a tendency to look down on some groups and figures in the USA for being too moderate (and taking too long to figure out that racism=bad), the Mattachine Society being a prime example of this. However groups like the Black Panther Party were idolized by many Canadians for being more aggressive. Overall, the Culture Wars, despite America's best efforts, became a very slow and patient victory for Canada.
Coming into the 70s it seemed like the USA was finally beginning to at least warm up to Canada and its progressivism, despite all the bumps earlier. This idea was crushed by Ronald Reagan being elected president in 1980. He was probably the most aggressive president towards Canada since 1812, seeing Canadians as pinko commies. Reagan regularly mounted pressure on Canada to reverse its ways, and even periodically deployed troops on the border to intimidate Canada, with no success. Reagan was just seen as a thorn in Canada's back, until March of 1986. After a shootout at the Niagara border between US and Canadian forces, the Niagara Affair began. Regan deployed the might of the US military at the Canadian border, preparing to finally invade the nation, and Canada did the same. This was followed by Mexico, Cuba, and Brazil threatening invasion of the USA if they entered Canada. NATO also threatened to invoke article 5 against the USA, and even the USSR condemned the USA, and considered aiding in an invasion via Cuba. Despite the Democratic Party walking out of Congress days earlier, on April 2nd 1986, Ronald Reagan was impeached by the Republicans and replaced by George H. W. Bush, thus ending the Niagara Affair.
Bush adapted a policy of Canada and the USA keeping to themselves regarding social policies, and his friendliness towards Canada ushered in the Goldilocks Era of relations between the USA and Canada. Bush himself, despite being a conservative, was viewed positively by Canadians due to finally bringing friendly relations to the 2 nations. The internet came, and most Canadians on the internet acted in ways comparable to what we call “Dark Woke” in our timeline. The Video Game industry also became prevalent, and Video Games, like TV shows and Movies, were rated more leniently in Canada than the USA, and rarely experienced censorship. This created a black market of Canadian video games trickling into the USA, yet somehow region locking was never implemented by major companies to prevent this.
With rapid technological advancement, economic prosperity, and the Goldilocks Era, the future seemed bright for Canada following the turn of the Millennium. Transportationwise, Canada's railway was electrified, and planes were more prominent than ever before. Planes? Like the ones used in 9/11? Oh shit. Following 9/11, Canada joined the war on terror alongside the USA, NATO, and whoever else. Canada did make it clear that it was in this war to clamp down on terrorism, not to bring suffering to the middle east, and not to act on the behalf of Oil Companies (Canada has plenty of oil anyways). Canada was very wary of working with Israel, which Canada saw as an imperialist, and at worse, a genocidal state in the middle east. Like other wars, Canadian troops were notably very nice to civilians and often protected them from even their own allies. And Canadian forces weren't cruel to enemy troops either, for now.
Despite Obama being seen as a moderate, his election was seen by Canadians as proof that America was finally adopting their way of life. That Canada was finally winning the culture wars. Meanwhile, the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, a war which Canada had zero involvement in, resulted in the rise of ISIS in the region. ISIS was viewed by Canadians similarly to how Nazi Germany was viewed. And not only did ISIS see Canada as a nation of degenerates and weak, but an ISIS loyalist also shot up West Edmonton Mall in 2014, fueling anger in Canada. ISIS forces thus faced the full brunt of Canadian brutality that hadn't been seen since WW2. ISIS troops being massacred by Canadian forces was seen as a major embarrassment to ISIS. And after frontlines were stabilized, leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and many other members of ISIS began to plan the Alwaz Plot. This plot was effectively the Bojinka Plot, but for Canada instead of the USA.
The Goldilocks Era came to an end in 2017, as US President Donald Trump came to power. He brought back much of the anti-Canada rhetoric from the Reagan Era, and emboldened many conservatives down in the States. His election was part of the reason why Stephen Harper lost the General Election in April to NDP leader Tom Mulcair. Mulcair reinvigorated Socialist policies in Canada, and he also created a program with CBC to invite media creators from abroad to make TV Shows and Movies in Canada. One of the people to move to Canada to join this program was Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls. Mulcair also withdrew most Canadian troops from the Middle East, which eased pressure on ISIS, who were still scheming.
And here is where I will leave things off. Obviously, Canada is very progressive right now. I will of course make more posts in this timeline that go into more depth with certain events. I also intend on actually making content from 2018-present day, but some interesting things happen during that time, so I thought it was more appropriate to leave them out for now. If you have any suggestions on what you want me to talk about… well the comments are right there.