The Island of Montreal is united under the One Island/One City banner and Pierre Bourque manages to become mayor of the mega-city. Quality of life does not change, but services decline significantly on the areas of Public Works and Maintenance as resources are pooled and redivided “evenly” over the island. Taxes increase and short term resentment rises. However, as everything evens out after the first year and a half, people go back to living and accept the changes for what they are and nothing more… the political agenda of an elite few…

January 2003: Former Premiers Parizeau and Bouchard return to the public forum to endorse a new, relatively unknown, candidate to refuel the Parti Quebecois. They are successful.

March 2003: Michel Pariseau is elected party leader of the Parti Quebecois. Pariseau challenges the Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest, to a formal debate on the future of Quebec and Canada. The debate is declined and Pariseau uses it to fuel his rhetoric.

June 2003: Pariseau finds information that discredits the Liberal Leadership of the Province and manages to force the issue of an early election.

July 2003: Despite misgivings and apparent low poll support, Charest calls an election for August 23rd, 2003.

August 1st 2003: The Country’s Prime Minister speaks out on the Quebec Campaign, reiterating former statements about the effects of sovereignty and the Federal Government’s stance on the subject. She is applauded in the Maritimes, Prairies and West Coast. Quebec is overwhelmingly hostile to the Prime Minister’s Speech.

August 23rd 2003: As in the past, the vote was tight. However, this time, separation was suddenly a reality.

September – November 2004: Reports make the news indicating that the world’s glaciers have begun a slow descent southward. Most in the scientific community scoff at the notion and point to scientific advancement to alleviate any “fear” of a “New Ice Age.”

December 2004: Unseasonably cold temperatures, possible heralds of the coming glaciers and reported “Ice Age”, strike across the country. Although temperatures drop south of the border, the storms are mostly contained to Canada…

December 15th, 2004: The storms and inclement weather knock out the Power Grid with intensity equal to that of the Ice Storm of 1998. The effects get worse from there…

December 25th, 2004: Three quarters of Quebec and Ontario are without power. Temperatures are in the minus 25 degrees Celcius range. As in 1998, community shelters are formed to provide haven from the cold. The major cities of Quebec and Ontario are at a standstill. Almost no one braves the cold, snow, and ice to go to work. Most work seems almost ridiculous amidst the primitive living conditions that most are now facing…

The more rural and less populated areas fare slightly better. With almost every home in rural areas having a fireplace and other less technology-driven aids, they face the cold with grim determination.

January 1st 2005: Virtually no headway has been made against the snow and ice. Power is still out to almost everyone.

January 5th 2005: A small group of fundamentalists advocate a return to more spiritual beliefs. They claim that this so-called Ice Age is the next deluge and only the pious will be saved. Over the next few weeks, this religious wave picks up favor and support in the halls of Quebec Government…

January 18th, 2005: Power is restored to Quebec. However, at the behest of leaders and the reduced fuel supply (after all, a good portion of the power supply is frozen solid!) power is only restored to certain areas. Hospitals, Fire Departments, Recognized Shelters and then Hotels and other areas with the potential to provide for large groups of people receive power. Most individual homes are still shut out.

January 19th 2005: In a gesture of goodwill, the Quebec governement declares that generators and like equipment are to be subsidized for those that cannot afford them. Rumors begin to circulate that Ottawa is accusing the Quebec Government of making the power shortage seem worse than it is.

January 23rd 2005: Ontario residents depending on Hydro Quebec demand their power be restored. To this point nothing has been restored to ANY Ontario clients of Hydro Quebec.

January 30th 2005: Quebec responds to Ottawa’s supposed allegations of power manipulation. In one fell swoop, all homes in the Quebec sector of Hydro-Quebec’s power distribution network are restored. The first news-byte they receive is from the Premier. Pariseau informs the citizens of Quebec that they need fear the storms no longer.

Despite continued ice, rain, and snow squalls, the Premier reassures Quebec citizens that the new power grid will function regardless of snow and ice build up.

With an air of melancholy, Pariseau also announces that the Nation of Quebec will look after its own first. Hydro-Quebec is mandated to not provide any further power outside the Province.

Quebec declares its borders closed and effectively barricades itself from the rest of Canada by neglecting the ice and snow along its borders.

February 1st 2005: Pariseau announces that he endorses the Church’s desire to become more active in the lives of Quebec citizens. Quebec becomes a theocracy literally overnight.

February 2005: The Change hits. A large number of people simply vanish. The Theocracy claims that Rhapsody has come to the truly faithful. Some skeptics point to the fact that all of the leaders remain behind…