Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes

CanadianTory · Jul 30, 2014

Bracken over Socialism

Prime Ministers of Canada:
Arthur Meighen (Conservative) 1920-1921
William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) 1921-1926
Arthur Meighen (Conservative) 1926
William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) 1926-1930
R.B. Bennett (Conservative) 1930-1935
William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) 1935-1944
John Bracken (Progressive Conservative) 1944-1952
Charles Gavan Power (Liberal) 1952-1962
Paul Martin, Sr. (Liberal) 1962-1967
Davie Fulton (Progressive Conservative) 1967-1978
Erik Nielsen (Progressive Conservative) 1978-

Bracken over Socialism
Canadian federal election, 1944
Canadian federal election, 1946
Canadian federal election, 1951
Canadian federal election, 1952
Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1953
Canadian federal election, 1956
Canadian federal election, 1960
Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1961
Liberal leadership election, 1962
Canadian federal election, 1965
Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1966
Canadian federal election, 1967
Liberal leadership election, 1970
Canadian federal election, 1971
Canadian federal election, 1975
Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1978
Liberal leadership election, 1978

True Grit · Jul 30, 2014

Good to see Marchand get in. Surprised Turner hasn't done better, though.

Emperor Julian · Jul 30, 2014

Noravea said:
Here is the 1932 edition of Turquoise Blue's Clash of Infinite Fictions. In this one, Minnesota Governor Jon Targaryen runs against incumbent President George Milton of California in the midst of the Great Depression, and after facing a primary challenge from Herbert Hoover at the Republican National Convention, goes on to defeat.

We don't even know for sure who this Jon "Targaryen"'s parents are, there's all sorts of crazy, conflicting rumors about his possible father or mother. If we don't know that, how can we know if he was even born in the USA? Where's the birth certificate?

Turquoise Blue · Jul 30, 2014

Emperor Julian said:
We don't even know for sure who this Jon "Targaryen"'s parents are, there's all sorts of crazy, conflicting rumors about his possible father or mother. If we don't know that, how can we know if he was even born in the USA? Where's the birth certificate?

Ha!

.

CanadianTory · Jul 30, 2014

True Grit said:
Good to see Marchand get in. Surprised Turner hasn't done better, though.

He briefly retired from politics in 1970 after the Tories major election victory and went to work at Bay Street, very similarly to OTL, and entered the leadership race as a business man rather than a former junior minister, and as such allowed much of his political networks to disintegrate. But don't worry, Turner will be back...

CanadianTory · Jul 30, 2014

Bracken over Socialism

Following 11 years in 24 Sussex and a career which constitutionally transformed the country and supplied free socialized medicine to millions of Canadians, Davie Fulton announced his retirement in 1978. The following race to replace Fulton as Prime Minister included various cabinet heavyweights, such as Finance Minister Claude Wagner, Quebec Businessman Brian Mulroney, Alberta strongman Jack Horner, Defence Minister Erik Nielsen and popular backbencher Flora Macdonald, among others. Although Wagner was seen as the frontrunner, he was surprisingly defeated by Minister Nielsen after four ballots of voting. The selection of a figure, while experienced enough to be the country’s leader, but also lacked a sufficient media profile shocked the political establishment, with many famously labeling the newly minted Tory leader “Erik Who?”.

A rather uninspiring figure, Nielsen proved to be incapable of turning around the country’s economic hardship and his abrasive style in the House of Commons left a bitter taste in the mouths of Canadian voters. However for the Liberals the situation was not much better. After years of pressure by the francophone wing of the party to adopt more Quebec-friendly policies, MacEchen surprisingly announced his resignation shortly after the selection of the new Tory leader, which forced the official opposition to scramble to find a new, preferably French replacement. After a quick leadership election Liberals selected party elder Jean Marchand to succeed the Maritime leader, hoping that Marchand’s status as a Quebec favorite son would swing enough voters to secure a majority.

The election itself, called a little less than a year after Erik Nielsen’s selection as Prime Minister, proved to be a disaster for the Tories. Their leader, while vicious enough to fulfill the role of a partisan attack dog, lacked the warmth voters wanted in their Prime Minister, and faced frequent portrayals by the media as a cold, calculating robot. Marchand meanwhile ducked questions that he would place the interests of Quebec above the rest of English Canada, standing in favor of the Supreme Court’s decision that the Quebec National Assembly’s use of only French was unconstitutional. However a last minute slip on the part of the Liberal leader during the English debate that he was being a Quebecois was different than being Canadian had cost his party an overall majority in the House of Commons. Once again the language issue proved to be a dangerous topic for the Liberals, who now ironically found themselves being charged by being to in favour of French Canada, the opposite of 1975.

SLCer · Jul 31, 2014

Going with The Simpsons election theme a bit...

CanadianTory · Jul 31, 2014

Bracken over Socialism

The early months of Jean Marchand’s Premiership was described as a complete disaster by Liberal party insiders, in which many suggested the Liberal leader lacked any patience in forging any clear policy agenda, as the party had been elected due to voters need to remove the Tories. Almost a month after being elected Marchand announced plans to introduce a 15 cent gas tax in order to curb the country’s growing inflation, a move which saw the resignation and replacement of Finance Minister Jean Chretien, who had failed to be apprised of the move by the PMO. Sensing an opportunity to reclaim power, Nielsen rescinded his previous resignation and promised to bring down the government, using the minority situation in the House to vote down the budget 138-136. While Canadians were far from disposed towards Erik Nielsen, the Liberals ineffective seven months in power had caused many to reconsider their options, especially in the midst of an economy which faced growing inflation and unemployment.

The election itself boiled down to two separate argument, one that the Tories under Erik Nielsen would not raise taxes under any circumstances while at the same time strengthen the economy, and another in which the Liberals under Marchand were the only ones capable of strengthening the dollar while at the same time prevent “Voodoo economics” from grabbing hold of Canada. Polling suggested that while Marchand was personally more popular than the Tory leader, his inability to provide a stable government had cost him confidence amongst voters, who saw Nielsen as the best suited of the party leaders to reign in the economy. The Progressive Conservatives were elected with a narrow majority government, with the Liberals once again in the wilderness after having briefly tasted power.

Prime Ministers of Canada:
Arthur Meighen (Conservative) 1920-1921
William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) 1921-1926
Arthur Meighen (Conservative) 1926
William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) 1926-1930
R.B. Bennett (Conservative) 1930-1935
William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) 1935-1944
John Bracken (Progressive Conservative) 1944-1952
Charles Gavan Power (Liberal) 1952-1962
Paul Martin, Sr. (Liberal) 1962-1967
Davie Fulton (Progressive Conservative) 1967-1978
Erik Nielsen (Progressive Conservative) 1978-1979
Jean Marchand (Liberal) 1979-1980
Erik Nielsen (Progressive Conservative) 1980-

Bracken over Socialism
Canadian federal election, 1944
Canadian federal election, 1946
Canadian federal election, 1951
Canadian federal election, 1952
Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1953
Canadian federal election, 1956
Canadian federal election, 1960
Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1961
Liberal leadership election, 1962
Canadian federal election, 1965
Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1966
Canadian federal election, 1967
Liberal leadership election, 1970
Canadian federal election, 1971
Canadian federal election, 1975
Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1978
Liberal leadership election, 1978
Canadian federal election, 1979
Canadian federal election, 1980

timeforce red · Jul 31, 2014

doing a third attempt on my Celebrity Timeline and the first one should be up by Saturday.

CanadianTory · Jul 31, 2014

Bracken over Socialism

Turquoise Blue · Jul 31, 2014

I'm guessing Nielsen wins another majority in 84.

CanadianTory · Jul 31, 2014

Turquoise Blue said:
I'm guessing Nielsen wins another majority in 84.

Possibly, but out of curiosity why do you think that? Have I given something away?

True Grit · Jul 31, 2014

Joe Clark syndrome strikes again, I see...

Turquoise Blue · Jul 31, 2014

CanadianTory said:
Possibly, but out of curiosity why do you think that? Have I given something away?

Well, the Liberals seem to be on very, very bad ground here. A terrible government and then the replacing of their somewhat-popular leader with a nobody.

Plus Nielsen sounds like he's a Reagan analogue.

CanadianTory · Jul 31, 2014

Bracken over Socialism

Although he achieved one of the greatest comebacks in Canadian political history, much like Arthur Meighen, Prime Minister Nielsen’s second stint as head of the government turned out to be as equally bad as his first. Unable to form a fruitful relationship with Presidents Kennedy, Carter or Prime Minister Callaghan, Nielsen found himself locked out of global policy. The economy meanwhile had grown only worse since the last election, with unemployment rising to roughly 9 per cent with gas prices rising to 52 cents a liter. On top of that numerous scandals had emerged, including one which suggested the Prime Minister knew but failed to disclose the amount of money the government was spending on military contracts. There were also reports that a member of the Prime Ministers cabinet had attempted to bribe a media official in order to gain the government more positive coverage. Although Nielsen was cleared of any wrongdoing by the RCMP, who cited lack of knowledge on the part of the Prime Minister, the fact it occurred under his watch left the Tories plummeting in the polls.

In the interim before the election the Liberals had chosen a new leader whom many party faithful hoped would return the party to the government benches. Defeating both Don Johnson and John Turner in a narrow and bitter leadership campaign, Iona Campagnolo promised voters a return to government transparency, balanced budgets, and a stronger presence on the world stage. However a woman had never led a major political party in Canada before, which placed the newly minted Liberal leader in a fight against the political social structure of the country.

Despite initial polling which suggested the Liberals would form only a minority government, the campaign quickly became a worse nightmare for the Tories than either 1956 or 1979. At one point polling even began to indicate that the NDP was tied with the Tories for second place in voter support. The debates proved to be a disaster for Nielsen, who came across as overly aggressive and patronizing towards Campagnolo, who in turn came across as the more level headed of the party leaders. On Election Day the results weren’t even close. The Liberals formed the largest majority in Canadian history, while the Tories narrowly hung onto the status of Official Opposition.

Turquoise Blue · Jul 31, 2014

Now wait for the PC-Reform split and we will have a Saskatchewan situation in Ottawa!

Plus I'm surprised Yukon still voted the guy back in. Isn't it a good place for the Dippers?

CanadianTory · Jul 31, 2014

Turquoise Blue said:
Now wait for the PC-Reform split and we will have a Saskatchewan situation in Ottawa!

Plus I'm surprised Yukon still voted the guy back in. Isn't it a good place for the Dippers?

IOTL the Yukon elected the guy for 30 straight years, and has a very strong Tory history, and in fact only turned NDP/Grit after his OTL resignation in 1987.

Asami · Jul 31, 2014

Nofix · Jul 31, 2014

I would have expected the Western ticket of Brown and Udall to do better out west, and for the Texan's Connally and Bush to do better back east (particularly in Texas and other Deep South states).

Archangel Michael · Jul 31, 2014

CanadianTory said:
Although he achieved one of the greatest comebacks in Canadian political history, much like Arthur Meighen, Prime Minister Nielsen’s second stint as head of the government turned out to be as equally bad as his first. Unable to form a fruitful relationship with Presidents Kennedy, Carter or Prime Minister Callaghan,

Oh me oh my.