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At the time of writing, we are currently but a scant few days away from our monthly presidential elections, and with Canada Day having passed us by, it seems as though a good rousing, patriotic examination is needed. Don’t worry, this isn’t a pop quiz of your eCanadian knowledge like you see on local news during normal Canada Day celebrations. I won’t be asking all of you to name off Canada’s Prime Ministers (Macdonald, MacKenzie, Abbott, Thompson , MacKenzie-Bowell, , Tupper , Laurier, Bordon, Meighen, MacKenzie-King, Bennett, St. Laurent, Diefenbaker, Pearson, Trudeau, Clark, Turner, Mulroney, Campbell, Chrietien, Martin and Harper). Instead I will be examining those who I consider to be the five greatest eCanadian Prime Ministers, and just what made them “great.” There have been many good Prime Ministers throughout the years in Canada, there have been a few bad ones, but some who have held our nations highest office have managed to rise to the ranks of greatness. This is true for eCanada as well, as we have seen our Tantis’, our Faltnor’s, and our Braham’s, and just as in RL, great leadership is always created by great hardship. Macdonald is considered great for reigning supreme over eCanadian politics despite massive personal and political scandal, setting the foundation upon which the eCanadian state was to be built. Mackenzie-King is deemed great for leading the country out of the Great Depression, and through the turbulent seas of WWII. Trudeau is considered great for his Patriation of the Constitution, the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and just as prominently, his slaying of the FLQ. In eCanada, we have seen the greatest leaders arise in such times of turmoil, for such hardship causes some of those among us to come forward, to point out that which is broken in our eSociety, and devote themselves entirely to its repair. So without further adieu, let us examine those great eCanadian handymen who with nothing but ideas, determination, and a lot of duct tape, set about solving the great eCanadian problems of our time.

1. Derick Braham - Canadian Paradox Party - NS - (May 08 - June 0😎
No article dealing with the greatest of the greats can be complete without the inclusion of Derick Braham. Braham was by all indications a true man of the people, and eCanada’s first anti-politician. Though he lead the Canadian Paradox Party to power once more in May of 2008, he had previously been a top member of the Canadian Nationalist Party, the precursor to the Norsefire Party, the Canadian Progressive Front, and the Canadian Empire Party. In looking at Braham’s term, we see chaos all aroun😛 social, political, martial, but most importantly, economic chaos. The US - Canada War had taken a massive toll on both countries economies, as both nations had apparently resorted to economic warfare in the days of the admin imposed cease-fire. Suffering from a massive brain-drain as not only foreign mercenaries and soldiers left, but also as many of eCanada’s finest citizens at the time moved on to other aspects of eRepublikan life. Inheriting a massively unpopular party from Tom Hagen who was going on hiatus, Braham had to rebuild the Canadian Paradox Party which suffered from Faltnor’s non-existent wartime leadership into a governmental organization again. But Braham was determined to save the nation from economic bankruptcy and market turmoil. Driven by righteous anger at Faltnor’s actions, (and inaction) Braham rode a wave of support to the presidency the likes of which no eCanadian had seen before, or since, capturing the only Congressional Majority in eCanadian history.

In government, Braham recognized the two deficits of the eCanadian government: the economic strife, and the diplomatic chaos. At the time, eCanada maintained but one mutual protection pact with Romania, and a temporary Non-Aggression Pact with the United States, leaving it largely unprotected from the military juggernauts of Sweden, Norway, Indonesia and Pakistan. Braham knew that eCanada had barely survived one massive war, and in its current condition, would likely not survive another, thus his government began to reach out to a new defensive alliance which was forming: the Mediterranean Alliance. By entering into this alliance, Braham ensured that the borders of eCanada would be secured against foreign aggression, protected by the major powers of Spain and Portugal, and supplemented by the middle powers of Italy, France, Hungary and the Netherlands.

But securing eCanada’s borders was the easy task. A much more daunting problem faced Braham and his cabinet in those days after the war: the economy. Wartime production exploded in the previous month, increasing eCanada’s output, and its demand for products. But with a massive brain drain of foreign soldiers and skilled eCanadians, the nation found itself with far too many companies in each manufacturing sector, and only enough workers to keep a quarter of them running. The sudden drop in productivity lead to the most devastating famine in eCanadian history, as eCanadians could not find a scrap of affordable food on the marketplace. Like a trained EMT, Braham set to work on delivering CPR to the nations economy, slicing import taxes to nothingness so that eCanada’s new Mediterranean allies could provide the necessary food for eCanadians to survive. But Braham’s economic strategy was twofold. The war had also nearly bankrupted the treasury, a problem which was exacerbated by the government’s inability to access the National Bank of Canada after the transfer of power. It was then that Braham forged what would be the basis for eCanadian monetary policy for months to come: revaluation of the Canadian Dollar. With the National Bank’s return, Braham began buying up large amounts of CAD from the marketplace, and selling it for an inflated price. The strategy was highly successful, allowing the government to increase its gold resources to 1000 G for the first time in eCanadian history. This policy, continued under his successors, would eventually expand gold reserves to nearly 5000 Gold by the time Beta was released.

By solving the economic and diplomatic crises’ facing eCanada, Braham saved the nation from a slow, painful death. Braham had stopped the haemorrhaging, and quietly took his leave, allowing others to continue the healing process.

2. Adam Sutler - Norsefire Party - PEI - (June 08 - July 08, July 08 - September 0😎
Where Braham had been the paramedic that saved eCanada’s life, the healing process was placed in the hands of his successor, Adam Sutler. Sutler entered office under similar circumstances as Braham himself, inheriting the massively unpopular Canadian Nationalist Party from John Wilkmot, and completely rebranding it as the Norsefire Party, and rising to the top of the eCanadian food chain with an endorsement from outgoing CPP President Braham in early June. Braham had bandaged up the grievous war wounds caused by the conflict with the U.S. but many of these injuries still festered though the bleeding had stopped. Sutler was faced with three major problems: a crippled manufacturing sector, a temporary non-aggression pact serving as a sword of Damocles resting high above eCanada’s head, and a tumultuous political system.

Sutler’s cure-all for the economic woes of the nation came in the form of a mix of government supplied social services and private investment. The government began buying up some of the defunct companies, offering training for new citizens to raise their skill in essential manufacturing areas such as moving tickets and food, simultaneously building up large stockpiles of food and tickets for emergency use. Government loans, combined with the increasing value of CAD allowed eCanadians such as Sutler, Kommie, and Hagen to build up high quality manufacturing facilities supplemented by gradual increases in import taxes, and the complete elimination of the VAT and Income Taxes while the treasury expanded with the growing strength of the eCanadian dollar. Soon private training facilities arose in the hospital, housing, food, weapons and gift industries. The eCanadian economy was far from the largest in the world, but by September, it had reached a balance point, providing a stable flow of goods onto the domestic market, with some companies investing in foreign markets.

The second major problem faced by Sutler was the temporary Non-Aggression Pact with America. Since the war, the two nations maintained frosty relations with one another, a situation which could boil over into another war a few months down the road. The government of the day began reaching out to our southern neighbours, placing blame for the war squarely upon the states’ vastly unpopular former president, and seeking to warm up relations between the two. The end result was a permanent non-aggression pact with the United States of America, one which still remains in effect to this date. eCanada’s longest unprotected border was thus defended by the promise of peace, neutrality, and improved relations in the future.

But bar non, the greatest issue which Sutler faced was the Constitution. The US - Canada war had proven that the top-down system of government imposed by the game dynamics threatened the stability, and even the existence of the nation in times of crisis. To solve the problem of overabundant power within the presidency, the Sutler government delivered the Beta Constitution, a document which established the political system we still use to this date. The President, Cabinet Ministers, Congress, and Mayors would each be given distinct powers and abilities, with certain checks and balances to ensure that the system would not be over dependant on any one branch. New offices were created, while others enshrined to ensure the greatest accountability. By far the most prominent of these offices were the Vice-Presidency, and the Speaker of Congress. The former provided an executive back-up in the case of presidential inactivity, one which would be put to the test in July after a presidential resignation. The latter shook the congress to its core, establishing decorum, order, and a strong voice for an organization which had previously been deathly silent. In the fields of diplomacy, economy and the political system itself, Sutler mended the broken bones and cleaned the rotting wounds which eCanada maintained following the war.


3. Cottus Arci - Canadian Social Democrats - BC - (July 08, September 08 - October 0😎
If Braham can be considered the nations paramedic, and Sutler its attending physician, then Cottus Arci was in charge of its rehabilitation, strengthening the weakened areas of the political body. At this point in eCanada’s reconstruction, many of the glaring problems faced by the country were solved, or were in the process of resolution, but many issues still remained, particularly the single-party dominance of the political system, the weakness of the eCanadian economy, the overwhelming strength of a select few corporate citizens and the weakened leg-splint that was the quickly crumbling Mediterranean Alliance.

Cottus Arci rose to power by building his party, the Canadian Social Democrats, completely from scratch. What began as a third party option to the ruling Norsefire Party, and the historic Canadian Paradox Party soon overtook both to capture the lead in the Presidential and Congressional Elections come July 2008. In opposition, Arci set the precedent for opposition parties for months to come: providing support for the government issues upon which they agree, and relentlessly hammering them on their failures and shortcomings, creating a friendly-adversarial system within congress. The tactic paid off, as Arci took the presidency in July in a squeaker of an election.

Though his first term would only last just over a week, Arci’s began to challenge the corporate system put in place by Sutler’s government, and took steps to move away from a system in which a few individuals commanded the entire economy. Though the new ministry of fair trade did not effectively complete its mandate, it was Arci’s vast expansion of the government loan program which allowed eCanadians to invest in companies which they could not previously afford. The continuation of this program in his second term
Brought about an unprecedented diversification of the eCanadian economy, one which would prove essential in the months ahead as the citizenry of the game adjusted to V1. When the massive giants of the eCanadian economy fell after Beta was scrapped, the masses of new investors quickly took over, building much of the resource-based economy we now maintain.

But beyond his economic impact, Arci’s greatest legacy lie in his complete shift in the nations foreign policy. By August, the world order was beginning to fall apart as Romania and Indonesia began to assert their dominance over the world stage, congealing into the ATLANTIS and PEACE factions. This conversion to a bipolar world order fractured the Mediterranean Alliance, which struggled against Romanian, Pakistani , Swedish and Indonesian pressure from without, and Spanish, Hungarian and Portuguese expansionism from within. As the only non-European member of the Mediterranean Alliance, eCanada found itself caught between the two factions, struggling to hold onto both its Mediterranean and Atlantic ties. Under Cottus Arci, the government finally took its stance. For while Portugal and the middle-powers of the M.A. chose to join PEACE in order to counter Romanian aggression, eCanada would remain true to its historical allies in Spain and Romania, and capitalize on Arci’s diplomatic efforts in the UK, Sweden and the United States by joining ATLANTIS. The ATLANTIS alliance thus provided eCanadians with not only border security, but also the capacity for military expansion, which another great Prime Minister would capitalize upon half a year later.

4. Zanalan - Canadian Social Democrats - NB - (Jan 09 - March 09)
Time passed, and Prime Ministers came and went, with many of them becoming inactive near the end of their terms, causing a crisis in leadership to develop. eCanada needed a leader who above all else, would be there for the nation, and provide much needed stability to what had become a headless administration. This Prime Minister was Zanalan. But just ‘being there’ merely made Zanalan ‘good.’ What made this Prime Minister ‘great’ was his recognition of a massive systemic problem, an elephant in the room which until that point, successive prime ministers either ignored, or placed upon the back burner: the Beta Constitution. Four months of V1. had gone by with no change to the eCanadian Constitution which had been put in place in August, despite glaring problems which had arisen due to the political changes put in place by the Administration of eRepublik. Zanalan provided the annual physical, and the necessary surgery, to the eCanadian political system in order to maintain our constitutional health as a nation.

Zanalan was appointed the task of constitutional examination by Prime Minister Tantis back in November, and quickly began sifting through the Beta constitution to find that which remained effective, and that which had become defunct. With the political retirement of Zblewski, Zanalan soon inherited the reins of the Canadian Social Democrats, and after a string of inactive Prime Ministers, sailed to the PMO in January with the endorsement of the CEP and then CHAOS party. As the CSD government and the congress of the day resumed their domestic activities, Zanalan brought forth his revised constitution.

The previous document relied heavily upon the Mayors of each province for the resolution of judicial and constitutional issues, a position which was completely eliminated with the conversion to V1. The centrepiece to Zanalan’s new constitution was the reformation of the Supreme Court of eCanada, with a new position, Chief Justice at its head. The Chief was designed to do for the Supreme Court what the Speaker had done for the Congress: provide order, oversight, and voice to a position which seemed largely silent, and initially at least, he was successful, as the Supreme Court began to hear several cases revolving around violation of constitutional rules and the public trust.

The new constitution also invested greater power within the Congress of eCanada, which had previously played second fiddle to the presidency in beta, setting the deliberative body up as a separate, but equal partner in the governmental agenda, and providing the Speaker with greater meditative abilities over the body. But the power of the presidency was also supplemented with the creation of the Presidential Veto, which combined with the Executive Order, became an effective tool for the President to set and maintain the governments agenda. Though the changes brought about by the Zanalan government may seem minor from a practical sense, it is their long term effect which will provide this former prime minister with the moniker of ‘Great.’


5. Bruck - Canadian Empire Party - ON - (March 09 - June 09)
The final Great Prime Minister (chronologically) was our recent three-term Prime Minister Bruck of the Canadian Empire Party, and longest serving Prime Minister in eCanadian history, beating Adam Sutler’s record by one week. But Bruck’s greatness stems not from his longevity, nor from the cult of personality to which this longevity can be attributed. Bruck’s entry into the ranks of the best eCanadian Prime Ministers stems from his effective repair of the Canadian Armed Forces, which had stagnated since V1.

The Canadian Empire Party established by Augustus Baldwin caused a deep fracture within the political right of the nation, as many hard-line members of the former CNP, Norsefire and Canadian Progressive Front were forced to take a hard look at the new CEP, and the direction it was headed in. This caused a large flood of support away from the Canadian Empire Party, and into the newly established Progressive Party of Canada which sought to return to the ways of the CPF. But Bruck, a former Minister of National Defense, and General of the Canadian Armed Forces soon distinguished himself as an unconventional politician, a man who possessed Baldwin-like cunning, without the abrasive attitude or oppressively partisan rhetoric. Thus when Bruck was named the CEP’s presidential choice, he became the CEP’s first mainstream candidate, and attracted a healthy amount of support in the February elections, though vote splitting between the CEP and PPC ultimately cost him the election. But by March, 1Ronman had taken over the PPC and moved to improve relations between the two parties. With the support of the CPP and the PPC, Bruck rocketed to the Prime Minister’s office with a 100 vote lead over the incumbent Zanalan. With extensive experience in the military as both its political and organizational head, Bruck already knew that the greatest problem which the nation faced was the status of its armed forces.

After the US Canada war, successive governments set about forming the Canadian Armed Forces into a small but effective expeditionary force to be deployed around the globe whenever needed. But as eCanada joined in the invasion of eFrance during the first major ATLANTIS-PEACE conflict, the ineffectiveness of this strategy in the post V1. Environment quickly became obvious. Without any major “Tank” soldiers, and an ineffectively organized and trained civilian force, the government was forced to funnel thousands of its gold into frontal assaults, resistance battles, and foreign tanks, a strategy which not only proved ineffective, but also nearly bankrupted the government.

Bruck recognized that this was a strategy that needed to change, and needed to change immediately. His government’s tactic was threefol😛 direct investment in the forces, effective organization, and most importantly, continuous engagement and training. The Ministry of Defense began building, stockpiling, buying, and distributing high and low quality weapons and moving tickets to maintain a steady stream of supplies to the active members of the armed forces. With increasing military budgets, the forces were able to expand to their largest point in history, while still remaining under effective organizational control by officers and high command based upon the eCanadian forums and supplemented by eRepublik PM’s. But as soon as these supplies were distributed, they were often expended as the Bruck government not only initiated monthly assaults on eFrance to supplement civilian training, but more importantly maintained a steady stream of regular soldiers fighting in eRomania against the newly expansionist eHungary, and the other major superpower, eIndonesia.

As Bruck moved into his second term, the CAF began to see immediate improvement in both their operational and organizational capabilities, allowing additional expansion, and providing the opportunity to build up the infrastructure of the nation. With an effective fighting force in place, the Bruck Government began building high quality Defense Systems and Hospitals in the population centers Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Nova Scotia, providing infrastructural protection against foreign invasion and additional fighting capabilities to the civilian and reserve forces. Bruck did however suffer a major setback when the entire CAF’s budget of over 30,000 CAD was misappropriated, and lost to a Hungarian organization known as “the Evil One.” Bruck survived the May election despite this, thanks largely to his own large base of support and the sudden last-minute fragmentation of the opposition coalition. Bruck was thus granted a third and final term to complete his military legacy: the establishment of training wars with neutral nations. With attempts at creating a Croatian and southeast-Asian training war falling through, the ATLANTIS nations found a willing partner in eIreland for mutual training wars, with their costs being shared by each party involved. No longer needing eFrance to serve as a costly target for assault, the government could now cut costs and increase the effectiveness of the civilian forces through cheaper, more frequent training wars between eIreland and eCanada, eUK, or eUSA.

Bruck served as a combination drill-sergeant and fitness trainer to the martial portion of our nation, whipping our servicemen into the finest shape they’ve ever been and making eCanada a military power on the world stage, the likes of which his predecessors could only dream of, and this despite a 100 Gold loss to government coffers; making him a unique but definitive addition to the ranks of our Great Prime Ministers.

Now as we move into the Presidential elections this month, we must not only examine each candidate in turn, but we now must ask them two simple questions, questions which will dictate whether they too will be admitted to the ranks of our greatest leaders:

What do you think is fundamentally wrong with our nation?

And what are you going to do to fix it?