Au Canada (Mock Parliament revival, sign-up and rules)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Au Canada
Canadian Mock Parliament • 2015–2019

Background: The longest campaign in Canadian history ended not in catharsis, but in a cliffhanger. The memory of their humiliating defeat four years previous still fresh in their minds, the Liberals exacted a hard vengeance in the 2015 federal election, emerging as the largest party in parliament with a plurality of thirty seats and a slight lead in the popular vote, but falling short of the 170 seats needed to form a majority government. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper prepares to announce his resignation, the incoming Liberal minority government readies itself for what is sure to be a rocky and tumultuous four years.

Overview: The first round of Mock Parliament will play out over approximately twelve turns portioned in three phases. The first, preliminary phase, will be devoted to forming the next government of Canada following the results of the 42nd Canadian federal election and will cover the period from October 19 (election day) to November 1, 2015. This phase will consist of a single turn. The second, government phase, will comprise ten turns (or fewer, if parliament is dissolved early by a no-confidence motion or at request of the prime minister) covering the tenure of the 42nd parliament. On winter turns (November – April), the government will present an annual budget enumerating any and all new programs as well as changes to federal spending and the federal tax code. Summer turns (May – October) will be devoted to non-budgetary legislation; both the government and opposition members may propose legislation during this turn. The third and final phase will cover the course of the 43rd federal election. Turns will last one week during the government phase, and three days during the preliminary and election phases, to allow for contrast between the slow and deliberate pace of government and the fast-paced schedule of a national campaign.

In each turn, players will attempt to turn the course of events in their favor by combining their performances on the floor of parliament with appearances in the press and participation in closed-door negotiations. At the end of each turn, I will grade each party’s performance according to their effectiveness in advancing their agenda while responding effectively to events outside parliament. These may include the activities of various advocacy groups and special interests, as well as foreign and domestic crises simulated by dice roll. Note that while the standard is higher for the party of government, all party leaders are expected to participate actively in the legislative process. If you must be absent for a particular turn, I ask that you inform me in advance; undeclared absences will cause your party to be marked down, and repeatedly missing turns will result in your character being removed from the game.

Parties will be evaluated according to the following rubric:

Policy performance   
(Does the party advocate effectively for their agenda? In the case of the governing party, does the prime minister effectively address external crises? In the case of the opposition, does the leader pose appropriately counter the government’s narrative?)

Media image
(Does the party appropriately answer criticism and advocate for its agenda to the public?)

State of the nation
(Similar to policy, has the government seen to the well-being of the country? There will naturally tend to be an inverse relationship between the scores of the government and opposition on this issue, but much will also depend on each party is seen by its base as advocating for their interests.)

A note on writing legislation: Because this game will move at a much faster pace than does Atlasia, I do not expect players to submit law school-ready dissertations when introducing legislation in parliament. When writing a bill, you should seek to provide a concise summary of the changes you would make to the status quo of whatever issue you are addressing. Players should not feel the need to provide exhaustive detail on the finer points of your proposal; on the other hand, you should provide enough information that we can see what you are trying to do and how you will go about doing it. For example, if you were introducing a bill to reform federal elections, you might write:

“Members of Parliament will be elected from the provinces using proportional representation, with closed party lists.”

You should not write:

“I will fix elections in Canada.”   OR
“[Copy-and-past the Wikipedia entry on proportional representation.]”

If you feel comfortable writing in legalese, go for it; if not, don’t worry about it. While this is not a writing course and is not intended to be a forum for discussing the finer points of English grammar, please note that if I cannot understand the bill you have written, I may choose either to request a re-write or to mark down your party for that turn. Please also note that sloppiness and errant calculations are fair game for criticism from other parties in-game.

Sign-ups For the first round, I ask that players limit themselves to real Canadian politicians and political parties existent at the time of the 2015 election. First priority is to fill the three largest parties—Liberal, Conservative, and NDP—after which, smaller parties (BQ and the Greens) and advocacy groups (including media outlets) may be opened, depending on player demand.

[wxtransit]

Andrew Scheer for the Conservatives, please.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Results of the 42nd Canadian general election
Liberal (Justin Trudeau) 147 seats, 34.47% votes
Conservative (Stephen Harper) 117 seats, 32.91% votes
New Democratic (Thomas Mulcair) 63 seats, 23.73% votes
Bloc Québécois (Gilles Duceppe) 10 seats, 4.67% votes
Green (Elizabeth May) 1 seat, 3.43% votes

Players

Liberals
Justin Trudeau, Leader and Prime Minister (bruhgmger2)
Irwin Cotler (Tim Turner)

Conservatives
Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Opposition (wxtransit)
Kevin O'Leary (jk2020)

New Democratic
Nikki Ashton, Leader (HCP)
Nikki Ashton, Leader (GoTfan)
Jagmeet Singh, Leader (Ted Bessell)

Bloc Québécois
Rhéal Fortin, Leader (Not Madigan)

Green
Elizabeth May, Leader (Sanchez)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Andrew Scheer for the Conservatives, please.

Granted. As opposition leader, I presume?

[wxtransit]

Andrew Scheer for the Conservatives, please.

Granted. As opposition leader, I presume?

Sure.

What is the POD for there being no Liberal "wave"?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Andrew Scheer for the Conservatives, please.

Granted. As opposition leader, I presume?

Sure.

What is the POD for there being no Liberal "wave"?

Broadly speaking, NDP runs a somewhat-stronger campaign than IRL, and hang on to more of their 2011 voters as a result. Truth be told, I wanted a hung parliament so that it would actually matter how the opposition parties voted (since party discipline in Canada is much stronger than in the US).

[wxtransit]

Andrew Scheer for the Conservatives, please.

Granted. As opposition leader, I presume?

Sure.

What is the POD for there being no Liberal "wave"?

Broadly speaking, NDP runs a somewhat-stronger campaign than IRL, and hang on to more of their 2011 voters as a result. Truth be told, I wanted a hung parliament so that it would actually matter how the opposition parties voted (since party discipline in Canada is much stronger than in the US).

Could this be why the NDP is a viable party, since the Liberals vote more center-left?

[Sestak]

I'll play as Kevin O'Leary (with the Conservatives, for now).

[Perhaps we could engineer a by-election to allow him to enter Parliament? Or he could be extraparliamentary, I'm fine either way]

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'll play as Kevin O'Leary (with the Conservatives, for now).

[Perhaps we could engineer a by-election to allow him to enter Parliament? Or he could be extraparliamentary, I'm fine either way]

Granted. As the game hasn't started yet, I'm willing to tweak the backstory to have O'Leary elected in 2015—we'll give you the York Centre riding in suburban Toronto, which narrowly voted Conservative (45-42) in our timeline.

[Sestak]

Just to clarify, we're currently in a minority government situation, correct? (I assume the NDP abstained from confidence)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Just to clarify, we're currently in a minority government situation, correct? (I assume the NDP abstained from confidence)

Yep.

[Mike Thick]

JagYEET Singh

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Would someone be willing to serve as Liberal leader? I don't want to take the nod, I fear I would flop as Liberal leader.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

JagYEET Singh

Granted. As party leader, I assume?

Would someone be willing to serve as Liberal leader? I don't want to take the nod, I fear I would flop as Liberal leader.

Yes, we really do need a prime minister for this to work. If someone is interested but just really doesn't want to play as Trudeau, I'd be open to allowing a different Liberal (within reason) to win the 2011 leadership vote.

[Mike Thick]

JagYEET Singh

Granted. As party leader, I assume?

Yes pls

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'd actually really like to play as the Greens if possible.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'd actually really like to play as the Greens if possible.

Your party of one awaits you, sir! You'll be playing as Elizabeth May, I take it?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'd like to open the turn as soon as possible; unfortunately, we can't really do that until we have someone playing as prime minister. I had spoken with someone privately who had expressed interest in joining, but it's been a few days now; if any of our current players (perhaps a backbencher or member of one of the smaller parties) would like to switch either to Trudeau or to a different character as Liberal leader, that would be swell of you. I can promise you first dibs on your current character if you'd then like to switch back later on.

Alternatively, if anyone knows of someone (or multiple someones) who you think would be interested in joining, do pass the word along; the more, the merrier!

[_]

I'd like to play as Rhéal Fortin, leader of Bloc Quebecois

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'd like to play as Rhéal Fortin, leader of Bloc Quebecois

Granted; welcome!

[Sestak]

No one wants to play as the Prime Peopleister...

[Don Vito Corleone]

I would be more then willing to play as the Leader of the Liberal Party.

[wxtransit]

I would be more then willing to play as the Leader of the Liberal Party.

Woo!

[_]

I would be more then willing to play as the Leader of the Liberal Party.

|

Will Trudeau be being replaced or will you play as Trudeau?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I would be more then willing to play as the Leader of the Liberal Party.

Excellent! Welcome, sir.


In that case, we have a full roll. As soon as buhgmger confirms his character (whether he'll play as Trudeau or a different Liberal prime minister), I'll open the first turn and we can get started.