In other threads I have made the case for surviving (or not-so-surviving) communities in the territory encompassed by the current state of Canada. This will be my attempt to outline, and then elaborate on what a post-plague Canada could look like. Canada, like many of the countries in the comic, has the advantages of having an enormous part of its territory being hostile - difficult terrain, harsh winters, unwelcoming condition for any form of farming. The Canada that some of us know today would, of course, die really quickly. The aforementioned conditions mean that the overwhelming majority of the population is smushed right by the U.S. Border in relatively high density cities. As such, I presume a complete and almost immediate collapse of:
1) The Salish Sea region, namely the Greater Victoria area, the Greater Vancouver Area, and the inland cities directly connected to those such as Kelowna and other highly populous valley settlement.
2) Edmonton-Calgary Axis. Not only those, but also all the way up to Yellowknife, as it's basically a direct road with regular shipping. The networks of cities in the southern plains, despite it's low population density, could be expected to collapse as well.
3) The Windsor-Québec corridor, the old industrial heartland, encompassing the Greater Toronto and the Metrapolitan Montreal Area. A good third of the country lives on the banks of the St-Lawrence and the Great Lakes. Dead.
4) The Maritimes - while mostly worthless, would still collapse due to no obvious isolated region in the area beyond the very touristic mountains of the Appalachians. I don't think Prince-Edward Island would wall itself off in time, but I am reserving Newfoundland and even perhaps Cape Breton Island as places of interest.
Of course, due to roads and planes, no region of Canada would be untouched by the plague, but some areas, provided that communications and organized travel collapses quickly enough, would be relatively untouched. There is also ground to argue that all these above mentioned areas may very well continue to harbour whole communities of survivors, but I maintain that, mostly due to to high troll activity in those areas, they will be largely considered no-man's-land.
Concerning the military - they will be a nonfactor, ultimately, in this scenario. Only very sparse forces are stationed outside of major centers, mostly in a bid to project military presence over the whole territory. I also discard the idea of any serious migration up-north by southerners. My take on it is that the idea of a plague didn't really set in until it was much too late. And besides, such a major flight would not stop the disease and would probably only translate into more casualties as ill prepared people fleeing the death trap of cities for the death trap of the wilderness.
So basically, after some rather radical demographic adjustment, I think Canada would propose not one, but rather several nations of survivors:
1) The Inuits of Nunavut and Groenland, as well as the adjacent population in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska. Their numbers, though, would probably be around 15 000. Not only would they lose access to foodstuff from the south, but their livelihood relies heavily upon sea mammals, such as whales, seals, and walruses - all excellent candidates for the plague.
2) The Dene-language/linguistic groups of the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and northern Saskatchewan.
3) Possibly several enclaves in the Rocky mountains, especially on the coast - I can't be bothered here to enumerate the sheer number of tribes and people involved in such a scheme.
4) The island of Newfoundland (and Cape Breton). Retained mostly because there could be an argument for the resurgence of celtic-ish religions.
5) West Iceland in the upper lake Manitoba country. If only because we know that Icelanders have access to magic in such a setting.
And finally, the area I wish to go more in-depth about:
6) Les pays d'en haut, ou, le pays des manitous (The upper countries, the land of the manitous)
This "country" would cover what was once called the Upper Countries, one of regions of New France, which largely covered what is now Northern Quebec, Northern Ontario, and Northeastern Manitoba. The indigenous people of the region all, or mostly, belong to the Algonquian language group. Explored by the French, and eventually one of the big areas of interest for french canadian fur traders, it has been long marked by the interaction of the two groups, both on friendly and unfriendly terms, until the english colonization of the 19th-20th century. To this day there remain enclaves of french-canadien villages and native reserves, despite the ebb and flow of population seeking fortune in timber and mining. These enclaves, currently poor and generally miserable, would come to grow into small population centers in the post-apocalyptic scenario proposed by the comic. Such a set up would encompass dozens of different nations, as such the Upper Country should not be understood as a modern nation-state. It's more of a cultural area defined by a shared language family and shared cultural characteristics, bounded together by a certain consistency in the natural environment. All the upper country would be firmly within the bound of what we call the "Canadian Shield". There are no cars. There are no highways. There is no central government. Rather, we have this loose constellation of people and population centers indirectly connected, mixing ancient and modern technology. Within the territory lies most of the mineral and hydro-electric wealth of the country. Furthermore, while inhospitable to agriculture, the land is rich in animals and ripe for hunting and fishing.
Here is a tentative map showing the distribution of the new Canadian nations.
Spoiler: the lay of the land • show Due to consideration of time, I will limit my analysis to one of the people of the Pays d'en Haut, the canadiens.
Demographics (I.E. Numbers I have just made up)
Population: 110 000 (total population of the Upper Countries - 280 000)
Capital: Saguenay (30 000 people)
Other major cities: Sept-Iles, Chibougamau
Major Languages: French and often a second language, depending on trade partner, most often Cree
The Canadiens people, culture and moresThe manitous; Sorciers and traiteurs; the blessed felinesWendigos: beast, giants, and demons[spoiler]to be added[spoilers]
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