ElbowsUp: The United States of Canada Declaration of Independence
A fictional document from the #ElbowsUp universe.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. When government fails this test, the people have not only the right but the duty to create new institutions worthy of democratic values."
—Preamble to the USC Constitution, August 27, 2027
Read more at: #ElbowsUp
Declaration of Independence of the United States of Canada
Adopted by the Constitutional Convention
Vancouver, British Columbia
August 27, 2027
The Unanimous Declaration of the United States of Canada
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, and that these rights extend to all persons regardless of the circumstances of their birth or citizenship status. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among People, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object and amplified by the deliberate corruption of public discourse, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these States; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present Administration is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
Grievances Against Federal Authority
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good, federalizing state National Guard units against the express wishes of state governments and in violation of traditional civil-military relations.
He has forbidden state Governors to exercise Laws of immediate and pressing importance for the protection of their citizens, demanding compliance with federal immigration enforcement that violates the constitutional principle of anti-commandeering.
He has called together federal forces at places unusual and inappropriate for domestic law enforcement, deploying military units for civilian policing in direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act and the constitutional separation of military and civilian authority.
He has dissolved Representative assemblies repeatedly, arresting duly elected mayors, city council members, and other local officials for the exercise of legitimate local authority in protecting their constituents.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by pressuring federal prosecutors to drop legitimate corruption investigations in exchange for political compliance, and by deploying federal agents to arrest journalists and suppress press freedom.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, pressuring federal courts to rule in favor of expanded executive power while threatening judicial independence through political intimidation.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, creating "Operation Restoration" task forces to circumvent normal law enforcement procedures and deploying federal agents to harass local governments that refuse to cooperate with unconstitutional demands.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies deployed for domestic law enforcement without the Consent of state legislatures, militarizing immigration enforcement and treating American communities as occupied territory.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power, ordering military units to perform law enforcement functions against the constitutional principles that separate military and civilian authority.
He has combined with foreign powers to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, accepting hundreds of billions in foreign investment in exchange for policy concessions that serve foreign rather than American interests.
For protecting federal agents, by executive immunity, from punishment for violations of constitutional rights committed against American citizens and residents.
For cutting off our Trade with traditional partners through arbitrary tariff policies designed to benefit foreign investors rather than American workers.
For imposing economic coercion upon us without constitutional authority, threatening to withhold federal highway funds and other constitutionally guaranteed resources from states that refuse to comply with unconstitutional demands.
For seizing private Assets and freezing the accounts of citizens and businesses without due process, using economic power as a weapon for political retribution.
For demanding personal loyalty over constitutional oaths, transforming political office into a source of personal enrichment, and fostering a cult of personality that treats dissent as treason.
For waging a war against the natural world, abandoning established environmental protections, and sacrificing the well-being of future generations for the short-term profits of favored industries.
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Due Process, conducting mass arrests and detention operations that treat immigration violations as criminal matters requiring military-style enforcement.
For transporting American citizens and residents to detention facilities beyond normal legal protections, treating asylum seekers and long-term residents as enemy combatants rather than individuals entitled to constitutional protections.
For taking away our local Charters, federalizing municipal authority and declaring sanctuary city policies to be "domestic terrorism" rather than legitimate exercises of local democratic governance.
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring federal agencies invested with power to override state and local law in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated responsible Government here, by declaring state and local authorities to be enemies of federal law rather than coordinate partners in constitutional governance.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, promoting political violence through inflammatory rhetoric while deploying federal force against peaceful protesters and democratic institutions.
Failed Appeals for Redress
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. We have appealed through every constitutional channel—state attorneys general filing legal challenges, governors requesting clarification of federal authority, mayors seeking protection for their communities, and citizens exercising their rights to peaceful protest and democratic participation.
A government, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our fellow Americans who remain within the federal system. We have warned them from time to time of the dangers of unchecked executive power. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our common heritage and shared constitutional values. We have appealed to their native justice and democratic principles, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common citizenship to reject these usurpations, which threaten the foundations of democratic governance for all Americans.
They too have been deaf to the voice of constitutional reason. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation. We do this not with joy, but with the profound sorrow that accompanies the division of a house against itself. And hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, partners in the work of democracy when they choose democratic governance, and opponents only when they choose authoritarian rule.
Declaration of Independence
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of Canada, in Constitutional Convention Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, and with deep respect for the Indigenous Nations whose traditional territories we share and whose governance wisdom guides our constitutional innovation, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these States and Provinces, solemnly publish and declare:
That these United States and Provinces are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the government of the United States of America as currently constituted, and that all political connection between them and the federal government is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States and Provinces, federated as the United States of Canada, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent democratic Nations may of right do.
We pledge ourselves to build democratic institutions worthy of the constitutional principles we seek to preserve: governance by consent of the governed, protection of individual rights, respect for the rule of law, commitment to human dignity, a solemn vow to protect the vulnerable and link arms in common cause, and acknowledgment that democratic authority flows from the people rather than from those who temporarily exercise it.
We commit ourselves to Seven Generations thinking, ensuring that our governance serves not only the immediate needs of our citizens but the long-term flourishing of democratic institutions, environmental sustainability, and human freedom.
We establish this new federation not in rejection of American ideals, but in fulfillment of them—creating constitutional structures capable of protecting democratic values when existing institutions prove inadequate to that task.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence and the wisdom of democratic peoples everywhere, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.