[Canada] First Contact to United Kingdom

[Grant]

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Department of Global Affairs
Government of Canada

EMAIL IS ENCRYPTED & SENT SECURELY​

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Recipient: Lawrence Adams, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs @Jamie
Cc: Johnathan Ramirez, Governor-General of Canada. Catherine Patterson, Prime Minister of Canada.
Bcc: Carl Wyatt, Minister of National Defence.
Subject: Strengthening a Friendship

Dear Secretary Adams,

I write to you today with the hopes of kindling a strong friendship between our two nations. For many years, there has been a strong bond & friendship between Canada & the United Kingdom, heavily spurred on through our Commonwealth backing and leadership from Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II.
With this in mind, the newly elected Prime Minister Catherine Patterson has requested I make contact with yourself to attempt to arrange and schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience to speak about where we can go from here and where our friendship could take us.

With our Commonwealth backgrounds supporting a very deep and longing friendship, I feel both our nations could greatly benefit from starting off in-depth negotiations.

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Yours Sincerely,

Daniel Barnes
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Department of Global Affairs

 

[Jamie]

Due to the current engagement Secretary Adams is in, Reece Allan would invite Daniel Barnes to a private and encrypted video call. Providing a prompt email in response to request a call as it would allow better flexibility in terms of them discussing the future relations between the UK and Canada.

@Grant

 

[Grant]

On receipt of the email requesting the call from the United Kingdom, Daniel Barnes secretary stepped out of the office and quickly moved down the hall to the Prime Ministers office. After a quick knock, a voice was heard from the other side of the door.
She entered and stood in front of the Prime Minister & Governor-General.

"Prime Minister. Your urgent request to start relations with the United Kingdom has come through and they are requesting a call. Unfortunately, Mr Barnes has been engaged in another diplomacy call with Russia and is unable to take the call. Are you happy for me to pass this on to another member of the Foreign Diplomacy Team or would you rather deal with it yourself?"

The Prime Minister glanced at the Governor-General then back towards the Secretary.

"I'd only trust Daniel to handle such a discussion with our friends in the United Kingdom. I'll make the call now. Thank you."

"Thank you, Prime Minister. I'll inform Mr Barnes of this after his current meeting."
The Secretary stepped out of the room and back into her office.


The Prime Minister quickly picked up her phone which was connected through an encrypted line and began to dial into the Switchboard. She quickly placed the phone onto Speakerphone and waited for the Government Operator to answer.

"United Kingdom Foreign Affairs Office. Thank you."

The phone rang. As it answered, she spoke out:

"Good Afternoon, I am Catherine Patterson. Canadian Prime Minister and I am here with the Governor-General Johnathan Ramirez. I am calling in receipt of a request to call from Reece Allan"

@Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Reece Allan, a member of the British Cabinet and the Secretary of State for Justice, patiently sat waiting on the opposite side of the video call. Enclosed in a private, yet empty conference room facing the camera with nothing but a glass of water in front of him beside some paper and a pen. Presumably for internal notes for their call assuming it was going to be taken. He took a sip of his glass before hearing the call coming in. It directed straight through to the conference line where he cleared his throat. Due to the timezone, it was the evening for Reece for pleasantly bright outside. "Good Evening" responded the British delegate, taking a mental note of whom it was he was talking too and who else were present. "It's a pleasure to speak with you, Prime Minister, Governor-General...

....Thank you for returning my call, my name is Reece Allan, the Secretary of Justice in the British Government and I have been authorized to discuss relations between the UK and Canada directly whilst my colleagues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are unfortunately pre-occupied. As you can imagine, there's no rest when it comes to oversea engagements." he smiled briefly. "How are you both today?" he proceeded to ask, starting off with some casual chat.

@Grant

 

[Grant]

The Prime Minister smiled warmly as the camera fired up and she saw the image of Reece appearing in front of her. The Governor-General slid his seat around to sit beside Catherine. She listened intently while Reece introduced himself and replied back to the casual chatter.

"We are very well, thank you. The Governor-General is here today assisting me to settle in with the new position. So it's all quite exhilarating at the moment for me. Although, I can agree that my time as a Member of Parliament, I can fully appreciate what you mean. The nature of our jobs are crazy at the best of times, without the additional pressures of external issues."

The Prime Minister gently cleared her throat and looked through a rough agenda which had been created by the Foreign Minister earlier in the week & had been delivered by the Secretary moments prior. She scanned through the major points and cupped her hands back together, placing her view back towards the camera.

"As you know, Diplomatic Relations between Canada & the United Kingdom have always been great. I believe this is only strengthened more by our mutual link of the Queen & Monarchy. With this bond, I feel our friendship can progress further than just basic allies and allow a much more, longer lasting alliance between our two nations. How does this sound to you, Mr Allan?"

Johnathan started taking notes in the corner of the camera, writing out a script of the conversation which was happening to hold on record in case it was ever needed again.

@Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Reece remained silent, allowing the time for his Canadian Counterpart to respond as she deems fit; taking a sip of his cold water whilst she did so. "Nothing better than waking up on a new day with a whole new set of responsibilities.." he spoke in jest. "The British Government is heavily focused on increasing our relationships globally, building on friendships, forging alliances and specifically, working to make the world better for our children. It sounds cliche but that remains the true objective for our government. The UK is rather involved in Africa right now helping to tackle Ebola, whilst numerous discussions go on internationally with the intent of building up friendships. The link between the Royal Family is definitely a good stepping stone and reasoning behind developing our cooperation together. Is there anywhere specific you'd like to begin? I presume Trade is something you are keen on discussing, and even going as far as military cooperation perhaps?".

@Grant

 

[Grant]

The Prime Minister shuffled through her paperwork again and chuckled as Reece made the comment about responsibilities. Nodding along with what he had to say, she took in the information. Occasionally glancing over to the notepad which the Governor-General was writing on to see if he was keeping up. As Reece came to the end of his talking, Catherine quickly responded as to not let silence fill the call.

"It's an admirable objective, despite the cliché which it can portray. A nation who actually cares to get things done, the things which other people just bypass, is always going to prosper the most.."

Catherine smiled, taking a small breath before starting to talk about the proper business. She glanced down at her list of exports.

"Let's start on possible avenues which we can take on Trade. Canada is looking to enter trade with the United Kingdom. A volley of supplying & receiving these resources between each other, alongside signing a Free-Trade Agreement with you today. Canada can supply a mixture of Mineral Fuels such as Oil, Vehicles, Machinery including Electrical parts, Precious Metals & Gems which include Diamonds. Does any of this remotely interest you, Mr Allan?"

Catherine fell silent, waiting for the response of Reece.

@Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Placing his glass down, Reece took a few notes of the exports that Canada is able to offer. Nodding in silence whilst writing these down on his notepad. "Yes, hmm.." he murmured. "Absolutely, we'd be happy to begin some trade routes. We'd actually be interested in receiving Mineral Fuels and Precious Metals and Gems. Of course this would be a monthly arrangement with a merchant ship from your side if thats viable? In return, we can offer a collection of Machinery, Cars, Pharmaceuticals or Organic Chemicals. We do have precious metals of our own but I doubt it'd be worth trading metals for metals. Our Merchant Navy would be able to deliver the goods to Canada, we would just need to know the destination. Whilst we would want our shipments from you to be delivered to Portsmouth, UK. If this is sufficient?"

@Grant

 

[Grant]

Catherine smiled upon hearing the arrangement which Reece had put on the table. She quickly leant in, whispering something in the ear of the Governor-General. He approved of the comment she made and nodded in return.
She glanced back towards the camera

"Very well, I can have that arranged for the end of the meeting. I'll have our Foreign Ministers Secretary contact you to exchange all the required details and prepare a plan for the smooth operation of that trade route. Just speaking with my Governor-General here, I am happy to receive Cars, Pharmaceuticals & Organic Chemicals in return as that is definitely something we are lacking here. I ask that these would be delivered to the Port of Montreal."

Johnathan Ramirez perked up after Catherine had finished speaking, slowly entering the conversation as to not disturb the natural flow.

"If that is all satisfactory for you, Mr Allan.. I have on my laptop here a copy of a Free-Trade Agreement which I can send across to you to be signed & returned. I feel that after our discussions come to a close today, we both will agree that the requirement to have an agreement signed is paramount. We hope to increase the levels of trade between our two nations to a higher level as time goes on. Not just in natural resources, but on a more militaristic level too, as I'm sure you already know."

Johnathan sat back, clicking his pen a couple of times before placing it down on the notepad. He knew the level of sophistication which the United Kingdom had in it's military equipment, which he ideally wanted to obtain access to. He fell silent, waiting on a reply.

@Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Finishing off his glass of water, Reece placed the now-empty glass down and nodded. Typing a few notes, "We'll get the trade route submitted to the International Maritime Trade Organisation immediately after this meeting. We will be using MV Express to transport the goods to Montreal on a monthly basis. If you could submit yours for Portsmouth, providing you have the vessel to do so, and let me know when done so I can ensure our records are up to date." He then paused, allowing Jonathan to pitch in before responding directly. "Absolutely, if you could please send over the draft, I will be able to review it and address it appropriately. It certainly acts as a stepping stone to further cooperation in the future. Through military and other means. Might I inquire as to your foreign policy on current events going on across the globe? and what are your ambitions going forward?"

@Grant

 

[Grant]

Johnathan gleamed a smile at the response from Reece and adjusted his line of sight towards his laptop screen. He mumbled to himself as he clicked through the files on his computer.

"I'll send it across for your review, Mr Allan. Once reviewed, I'll be happy to assist you further if you need anything amended."

After a small moment of silence afterward, the Prime Minister quickly pitched in to respond to Reece's questions

"To your questions, Mr Allan.. Canada as it stands holds only a few allies and no enemies. This is mainly because of the recent shift in Government. We're trying to keep out of the current affairs going on around the globe at this current time. It's been proven in the past to just be a waste of resources and potential threat to the nation which I care very much for. Despite this, we still intend to reach out to nations which we may not have in our previous years. We aim to expand our negotiations to whoever will allow us. It's obviously nice to have friends everywhere, as you can appreciate."

Catherine placed her hand on the notepad below her and closed it up, resting her arms over it. She smiled warmly and finished off her sentence.

"I won't lie to you, Mr Allan. It's been a very long time since Canada has ever been a major player in the grand scheme of it all. I want to bring this nation forward and become one of the major superpowers of the world. Just like the United Kingdom."

@Jamie

 

[Grant]

@Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Reece smiled, followed by a brief nod. "Thank you, I will await the draft and we can go from there.", a short period of silence ensued allowing his Canadian Counterpart to address his question off ambitions and foreign policy. Taking notes of their approach. "Thank you for the response, it gives us a clearer understanding of your intent going forward. And of course, I respect your decision to refrain from posing into current global affairs. Might I further inquire as to your current objective? I presume building up your military ought to be near the top of the list or is your primary and only focus on relations? Additionally, I'd like to know about your current relationship with the US? The UK and US are currently building on our initial relationship but I recall a previous NORAD project that was present to help the defence in North America. Is this anything you are considering?"

@Grant

 

[Grant]

Catherine adjusted herself on her seat and straightened her blouse out as she had started to slump down and was creasing the fabric, although she made sure to listen intently throughout Reeces reply. She re-centered herself and smiled as his voice weaned off.

"We have two main objectives to be actioned within the next couple of years. As I mentioned before, reaching out to many new countries which we never have before is essential for our growth. Having a strong network of friends across many nations has it's benefits. Our second objective, as you have now said, is building our military strength. The defence of my nation is the most important thing to me and that's how I intend to protect her - through Diplomacy & Power should it be required. I don't intend to make hostile threats unless I'm provoked first."

She kept a straight face, as the protection of her country was such a big priority in her eyes. She replied instantly afterwards to the US Relations question.

"The U.S & Canada have always, throughout history, been extremely close. This current Ministry have recently reached out to the U.S Foreign Affairs Department to spark up and reignite our friendship to an old former glory. Although I may have aspirations to what we could bring to the table in years to come, I won't know exactly how we can go forward until we hear back from them and start those discussions."

Johnathan's Messenger on his computer fired up and he saw that he was urgently needed. He quickly lifted his head and began to speak while packing away his laptop and documents.

"I'm sorry both, but I must urgently leave to attend other business. Mr Allan, I'll leave you in the Prime Ministers capable hands. Farewell"

Catherine said her goodbyes to the Governor-General & turned back to face Reece. She waited for the door to close firmly behind Johnathan before she spoke again.

"I must ask.. I trust your judgement & I am eager to learn of any distrust you share with other nations.. Certain people cannot be trusted or are just around for the Anarchy. Who are these people, in your humble opinion? I don't want to go mixing with the wrong crowds."

@Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Clearing his throat, Reece begun to respond to each point made by his Canadian Counterparts. "A lot of people tend to overlook the importance of having strong networks, so I commend you for recognizing the need for that and not just primarily the expansion of your military. Whilst we currently have a stable number of relationships, we are always seeking more but even in the military ground too. The UK Military is perhaps, at this moment in time, one of the worlds leading authorities when it comes to deployments. We have our forces in Madagascar, a training exercise with China, another exercise with the Netherlands and planned training with New Zealand and America. Just to give you an insight into how the UK currently operates, we are currently investing in certain entities within the armed forces such as Maritime Patrol Aircraft.. but our stance is the same as yours. It's not to make hostile threats, but as a self-defence mechanism if threatened. The UK has a number of oversea territories that we must consider too. We will be happy to help you however we can in relation to your military growth.". He fell silent, allowing his host to confirm their relations with America before pitching her question. Giving his farewell to Jonathan.

"At this moment in time? Belgium's actions have been quite the concern. Becoming a communist government followed by shooting unarmed protesters. It's a situation the UK is watching develop but it's something to be wary off. Aside from that, we actually have no specific concerns. We hope to work with everyone going forward, perhaps the Global Assembly is a good option for you to get into the International Politics further. Do you intend to get invested much into the GA?"

@Grant

 

[Grant]

"Belgium.. How interesting. I hope they are being dealt with in the correct manner. I wouldn't stand for such behaviour."

Catherine shuffled herself in the seat, going into thought about the Global Assembly and how she would proceed in the future. After a brief moment, she spoke:

"The Global Assembly is certainly a way forward for Canada, in due time that is. We are already a member state but I haven't personally attended a meeting since stepping into power. I doubt the Assembly even recognise us as a Member State anymore. While I think of it, I really must send an apology letter to the Chairman for my absence as of late.."

Catherine quickly noted down her thoughts and pushed the writing pad to the side. She leant forward once again, smiling at Reece with a warming glow.

"Quite honestly, I am not the best at my next topic of discussion which I need to speak about - Military Exercises & Purchasing of Military Equipment. I would like to possibly bring in our National Defence Minister to speak with you directly about this. Is this okay for you? Meanwhile, I will happily arrange for some Coffee or Tea to be delivered, or maybe something a bit stronger?"

Catherine chuckled slightly and went to reach for her phone, resting her hand on the receiver while awaiting the answers to her questions.

@Jamie