| ||||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Haultain | |||||||
| Language Official |
English | |||||||
| Others | French | |||||||
| Religion Main |
Christianity | |||||||
| Others | Aboriginal beliefs | |||||||
| Queen | Elizabeth II | |||||||
| Commissioner | Myron Thompson | |||||||
| Premier | Bruce Hutton | |||||||
| Established | October 26th, 1996 | |||||||
| Currency | Dollar ($) (CAD)
| |||||||
| Organizations | CoN, VF | |||||||
Buffalo Territory, commonly known as Buffalo, is an external Canadian territory located in northern Venus. The settlement was established in the late 1990s by Western Canadians. Buffalo and New Quebec form the only two Canadian-dominated settlements on Venus.
History[]
The origins of the colony of Buffalo can be found in the days after the start of the first American colony on Venus in 1990. Western Canada, suffering and boiling with dissent after several extremely unpopular decisions by the federal government that had left much of the West reeling, had new parties and even independence movements springing up.
While most of this resulted in political impact - namely, the Reform Party and its electoral success, and later that of the Conservative Party — the American efforts on Venus gave a few people in Calgary other ideas. Namely, that they should establish their own colony to get away from the "oppressive" federal government. A movement was stated in the mid 1990s, formally called "Westerners for Venus" (also known much better as "Getting Away From the East"). The idea gained even more support after the British established their own colony in 1989.
By 1990, while still a minor movement, the WoV had begun to gain some support, though they were still ignored in most corners. With the establishment of the GST in 1991, however, they, like the Reform Party itself, picked up supporters, and more funding, largely from oil-related industries and Reform supporters. They also set a financial goal for their accounts, after which they would take the names of future colonists, for additional payments.
The next few years would find them continuing at roughly the same pace. The near-success of the Quebec referendum in 1995, and the federal reaction to it, inflamed the West yet again. Once again, in their minds, Quebec was getting special treatment, this time being given a subsidized colony.
Donations soared at WoV headquarters, and they passed the threshold at which they had established their goal. Thus, they began to take names in their office, in return for a large payment apiece.
Seeing this discontent - and truly horrific polling numbers — the Canadian government stepped in, offering to supply them with some funding as well. After much debate, it was decided to take the money, if they could use it as they wished in their effort towards their goal. This was agreed to, so long as the movement allowed people from elsewhere in Canada to move there as well.
So, the WoV approached the American government about using their facilities. Given the connections in the United States held by the backers of the movement, both this, and its approval, was not surprising. With support from the Canadian government, and their own ever-increasing pockets, the first group of WoV colonists lifted off on Victoria Day - May 20th - 1996, arriving in their chosen area of Venus, fairly close to the American and British colonies, but as far away from New Quebec as they could feasibly manage, on October 26th, 1996.
This settlement, which they named Haultain, after the territorial premier that had fought for the West the first of many times that the East had "screwed them over," was established on a large island west of the continent of Ishtar Terra. They chose the colony name, "Buffalo," after the original idea of a unified Western province and the name proposed by Haultain for it. About half of these early colonists would be those who had registered, with the remainder being specialists of one sort or another.
The early years would be hard, but the colony would grow and prosper, as a trickle of new colonists arrived each year. That would change in 2000, as both the Soviets and Americans began to let, in their words, "average people" come to the planet. This action truly opened the floodgates, as the WoV still had more money in their accounts than they could count. Settlers for the colony would get their fares paid, and American — even Soviet ones, on occasion — ships would be hired. By 2007, half of the people on the waiting list had been ferried over to the colony, by now composed of many settlements.
This led, on September 14th 2007, to the Canadian government of Stephen Harper officially declaring the area to have territorial status. Prior to this date, various members of the movement had functioned as the government in the colony, and been sanctioned as its governors. This declaration — backed by a vote in the House of Commons — led to the establishment of a Territorial Assembly. It would take the next year to organize the matter. The first Territorial Commissioner, former MP Myron Thompson, would (with American support) be chosen in the spring of 2008, and arrived at Haultain in time to certify the election results that October, after which the MP, and Senator, that were elected would leave for Earth. Bruce Hutton, of the Conservative-aligned Buffalo Party, would win the concurrent first elections in Buffalo.