Le Royaume laurentienne

[Evangeline Anovilis]

"It is vital that Québec learns from the failures of the Faraway Realm. Not through blind following of clearly unworkable concepts, but by adapting and adopting what has proven its value and implementing promising new concepts can Québec create a modern and functional system, which not only guarantees stability, but also effective governance - something that was sorely missing in the Faraway regime."

-Dalian de Vicidalia, in "Meeting the Challenges of a New Age"

 

"Québec is a country belonging naturally to the Lily. It was what has created Québec and what has made Québec special. It is what connects the people of our country with the fellow Francophones across the Americas and the Atlantic. There are Rosean concepts within our culture, which we inherited from our upbringing, which are by now part of our culture and should not be abandonned. However, at the end of the day, Québec is a lily, not a rose."

-Dalian de Vicidalia, in "The Lily and its Future"

 

"Internal fortitude is not simply achieved by having people swear an oath or forcing them at gunpoint. True loyalty and adherence can only be found to principles people believe in, principles that seem evident, that are to them as natural as the air they breath and the water they drink."

-Dalian de Vicidalia, in "Preserving the Garden"

 

[hr]

 

Over time, the situation in Québec would start to change, as the elite's political calculus changed. Certain hardliners in the leading circles would asquiesce to the moderate forces, which were made up mainly from Dalianists and the more liberal nobility. Also the military's support for the more progressive (but still authoritarian) stance helped and soon, the États-généraux were dissolved in full, to be replaced by a National Convent, in order to draft a constitution for the Realm.

 

The new constitution would be a compromise. Dalianists and nobles favoured heavily retaining a monarchy of sorts, as the central pillar of the state, a demand which some republican-leaning conservatives of the former Parti Québécois found not too appealing, but which they accepted, in return for other concessions, such as the demand for a country that would focus more on native customs and a constitution enshrining basic rights, instead of Faraway absolutism. In this, they found a surprising ally in another vital party, the monarch.

 

With the House Scarlet of Faraway being presumed dead, it's only member missing without a trace, the country would have to find a new monarch. After much discussion, the canditate best suited for the throne, especially due to support from Dalian de Vicidalia and great parts of the Francophone immigrant community, the highest-ranking noble resident in the country was chosen. However, Hélène de Laurentie, as their newly adopted surname would be, was against absolutist rule.

 

This compromise situation would be visible throughout the constitution, as, for the first time in Faraway history, there would be a mention of popular sovereignity, however, already in the form of "The sources of the Laurentine Union's sovereignity are both the people and the monarch." Similarly would the identity be handled, as the constitution gave the country the new name of the Union laurentienne (or Laurentine Union), but designated it as the successor to the Faraway Realm. The new country would receive a bicameral parlament, with a popularly elected lower house, the Assemblée nationale, with a weaker upper house, the Sénat, which would be made up of hereditary nobility. The two houses would together be the legislative, in contrast to Faraway, where the legislative power was the monarch still, however, the crown would be given an absolute veto right on any legislature. The Sénat, owing to its limited democratic legitimacy would be mostly a forum for aristocratic advise to the Queen, given that their veto was dependant on the crown's support for their position (in which case a bill would not be passable anyway), though with the exception of constitutional changes, in which case the Sénat also had to agree with supermajority.

 

The title of President would be abolished, transferring the position as head of state to the monarch. Helena de Grenville would instead for now receive the position as party president of the Front royaliste, which replaced the old CNRF. The crown additionally would be inheriting from the president the supreme command over all armed forces, police forces and intelligence services, the right to be informed on any matter of the state by request, immunity before non-constitutional law, and the crown would additionally be given certain additional rights, most of which would be symbolic (such as the law against lèse-majesté), though others would be of actual importance, such as being the nominal head of the Laurentine Catholic Church, appointing the Prime Minister, investiture of nobility (as the highest of the noblesse), being the personal owner of the royal domain and the royal treasury and being entitled to a set percentage of the state's revenue (the royal percentile/Centile royale). Additionally, the state entities of the Banque de Québec and Monnaie de Québec (respectively renamed Banque royale de Québec and Monnaie royale) would be brought under royal authority, together with their monopolies on the mining of gold, as well as the taxation of the Saint-Lawrence.

 

Without a proper parlament existing before, this new constitution, drafted by the mostly Dalianist National convent, would be signed into law by Helena de Grenville and Liselotte Wiltord, which, despite the great importance, would happen without much fanfare.

[Horo the Wise Wolf]

Meihua'a shopkeepers would gasp in unison as they realised the sheer volume of writing that had been put out by "Dalian de Vicidalia".

"I just had no idea there was so much!", said one shocked and confused shopkeeper.

[Evangeline Anovilis]

Not public

 

Altough plans for a proper residence were considered, Hélène for now was using the Presidential office in the Édifice André-Laurendeau. With the state's finances being limited, the Queen had assigned a low priority to her personal residence, giving priority to more important projects, such as the consolidation of the administration, social services and also the military. "The Legitimacy of the monarchy will not be measured by the size of its palaces, but by its ability to protect the people from poverty, enemies and one another.", she had remarked shortly after being granted the office. Still however, Premier Wiltord had insisted on drawing up a "reasonable" schedule for completion of a residence and certain institutions necessary for a proper monarchy. Thus, already before there even was a crown, or anything else, a Garde du Corps had been made up, to at least protect her Majesty from those who may wish her harm.

 

Partly, Hélène considered replacing Wiltord, given the Premier's more ultraroyalist leaning, however, Wiltord had an eerie aura that intimidated her and when voicing the idea before, most leading politicians recommended to let Liselotte Wiltord stay as Premier for now. Most ministers seemed to support the Premier (though not her ultraroyalism), the former President mostly pointed at Wiltord's past experience in government and even Dalian, when visiting the Queen once, had remarked that while maybe not likeable, at least the Premier would be efficient in guaranteeing social stability in this time. And indeed, working with her cabinet and a newly elected parlament, Hélène received results of her work on an almost daily basis, in the form of bills that required royal assent, reports on new projects, activities or matters that would require special attention from the monarch.

 

However, Hélène was also concerned with the various laws of Faraway, which in her opinion needed to be revised. The country was to transform, from the ineffective backwater it was before to an efficient constitutional monarchy, able to hold its ground and reclaim the position of Faraway, the Realm which the Laurentian Union saw itself as successor to.