The foundations for the Canadian conquest of the American entertainment industry were laid in 1909 when "America's Sweetheart" and Toronto, Ontario native Mary Pickford arrived in Hollywood on orders from Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Her plan was endear herself to the American populace through cinema and then use her clout to take over the industry. The plan was hugely successful as Mary Pickford climbed the social ladder to the top, marrying film celebrity and heart-throb Douglas Fairbanks in 1920. The United Artists studio was formed by Pickford, Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin in 1919. It was to be Pickford's base of operations for her future plans of conquest. But Chaplin, an agent of Britain's government, soon sensed something was amiss and moved to head off each of Pickford's moves. A rift formed between the two, and between Canadian and British celebrities in Hollywood. After losing his seat in the Canadian Parliament in 1911, future Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was employed for a short time by the Rockefeller Foundation in the United States. It was Sir Wilfrid Laurier's last decree as Prime Minister that Mackenzie King use his new position to layout what would come to be known as "the Canadian Conspiracy". Elected to Prime Minister in 1921, Mackenzie King moved swiftly to bring his plan to fruition and suborn the American entertainment industry. For nearly 30 years a series of Canadians infiltrated Hollywood but met only with middling success, this despite Mary Pickford's desperate attempts to have them rise to the ranks of celebrity. Among them was Vancouver, British Columbia's Yvonne De Carlo and London, Ontario's Hume Cronyn. Charlie Chaplin was successfully stonewalling Pickford's efforts. A depression and a world war further slowed Mackenzie King's plans. When Mackenzie King retired in 1948, the Canadian Conspiracy was all but dead. But Mackenzie King's successor, Louis St. Laurent, appointed an idealistic young man to lead the next wave. That man was Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Trudeau, working as an operative controller inside the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, groomed a young Canadian radio announcer by the name of Lorne Greene to anchor the new Canadian troupe in Hollywood. In 1940, unable to find work elsewhere in broadcasting, Greene had turned to the CBC, where he was made their nightly radio news anchor. His booming voice and nightly delivery of news about the London blitz soon garnered him a nickname among Canadian listeners, "The Voice of Doom". His CBC colleagues, among them Frank Shuster and Arthur Hiller, had another nickname for him, "God". In 1946, seeing a lack of Canadian talent in broadcasting, Lorne Greene put all him money into founding the Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto. This would, one day, become a training camp for recruits in the Canadian Conspiracy. The Academy's most famous graduate, Leslie Nielsen, would later refer to Greene as his mentor. Soon after gaining fame at the CBC, Greene had his first realization of the power his voice carried. In 1941 he narrated the National Film Board's "Churchill's Island", the first documentary to ever win an Academy Award. His strong, authoritative voice had clinched the prize. Trudeau saw the potential in Greene, and his naked ambition, and knew that Lorne Greene would be the man to lead the Canadian Conspiracy to conquest. In 1946, Hollywood executives and dignitaries, among them Orsen Wells, gathered in the Oval Office of President Truman and decided that the European film industry, devasted after the war, could never be rebuilt. The president dispatched a special envoy to European capitals to make this point clear. In exchange for their cooperation, the European governments would receive special funding and loans - the basis of the Marshall Plan. The scheme was designed by Canadian agents who feared having to fight their battle on multiple fronts. With the Europeans out of the picture, all that remained were the Americans. 1952 was a turning point for the Canadian Conspiracy. The foundations of the conspiracy were cemented in January of that year at the Kit Kat Klub on Hollywood Blvd. Charlie Chaplin approached Nancy Davis, fiancée of Ronald Reagan, while Reagan was away from the table. Seeing an opportunity, Lorne Greene grabbed Chaplin and assaulted him, sending him to the floor in one punch. When Reagan returned to the table, Greene explained that he had caught Chaplin making a pass at Davis. And thus a friendship was formed. Greene was invited to the Reagan's wedding and Chaplin was run out of town. Greene made use of Reagan's anti-Communist fervor to label enemies as communists and have them removed from the American entertainment industry. Greene spent the next 6 years shuttling non-stop between New York, Los Angeles, and London, recruiting for the conspiracy, and working to consolidate its power base. In the meantime, Greene's colleague from the CBC, Frank Shuster, and his partner Johnny Wayne, known as the comedy team of Wayne and Shuster, had begun their first of 46 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, a record second only to the puppet Topo Gigio. In 1959, Greene seized upon the growing television industry and launched his career as Ben Cartwright on "Bonanza". For nearly 15 years he would appear as an All-American father figure in an All-American television western. In 1962, Hollywood gathered to make their tribute to D-Day in "The Longest Day". Greene succeeded in getting Canadian singer and heart-throb Paul Anka into the film, even managing to pass him off as a United States ranger in the film. In 1966, Greene saw the pilot for Gene Roddenberry's new science fiction drama "Star Trek" and knew that a Canadian had to be involved. He moved to have Jeffrey Hunter replaced by Montreal, Quebec born William Shatner as captain of the starship Enterprise. In the mid 1960's Christopher Plummer began his Hollywood film career. Greene's plan with Plummer was to pass the Toronto, Ontario native off as an Englishman, turning suspicion away from Canadians and putting the spotlight on the British. The early 1970's were a slow time for the Canadian Conspiracy. Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who had conspired with Greene since the late 1940's, had been elected Prime Minister of Canada. Pre-occupied with political unrest at home, he no longer had the time to actively participate in the Conspiracy. It took Greene nearly five years to rebuild his organization as Canadian political support dried up. Then, in 1974, Lorne Greene stumbled upon a great talent from Toronto, Ontario by the name of Lorne Michaels. Greene appreciated that Michaels shared his first name and moved quickly to mold Michaels as his successor. And a decision was made. The future of the Canadian Conspiracy would be comedy. In 1975, Michaels brought Saturday Night Live to NBC. Soon, Canadian comedians the likes of Ottawa, Ontario's Dan Aykroyd were mocking American institutions and Americans were laughing. Ratings went through the roof. The Lornes had a hit on their hands and a perfect launching pad for several of their up and coming talents. Throughout the 1970's, Toronto, Ontario's David Cronenberg explored the underside of American culture with a series of progressively stranger movies. In 1978 Greene returned to television as Commander Adama on "Battlestar Galactica" but the popularity of this series was short lived. Also in 1978, Yellowknife, Northwest Territory's Margot Kidder has given the plum role of Lois Lane in the blockbuster film "Superman". Although Greene had high hopes for Kidder, she failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Her knowledge of the Canadian Conspiracy made Kidder unstable and would later lead her to a series of clinics for treatment of various illnesses. In 1981, a young man from Kapuskasing, Ontario by the name of James Cameron directed "Piranha II: The Spawning". It was all uphill from there. Since the early 1950's, Regina, Saskatchewan's Leslie Nielsen, had been making the rounds of Hollywood film and television. Finally, in 1982, he landed the roll of Detective Frank Drebin on TV's short lived "Police Squad!". The series lasted only a handful of episodes, but it laid the groundwork for Nielsen's future in Hollywood. Also in 1982, Ronald Reagan told his friend, Lorne Greene, that America needed a strong male role model. Greene seized the opportunity and moved to place young Canadian up and comer Michael J. Fox in the roll of upstanding young Republican Alex P. Keaton on the television series "Family Ties". Fox's character would become a role model for millions of young American males and is generally thought to be the basis for the "yuppie" stereotype. In 1983 Chicago's "Second City Television" hit the airwaves and the influx of Canadian comedians could no longer be ignored. John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Martin Short and Eugene Levy were stars. Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis created Bob and Doug Mackenzie to spread illusions and misconceptions of Canada in America. In America's eyes, Canadians were beer guzzling, hockey loving morons who spent 11 months of the year buried in snow. The name "Mackenzie" was chosen as a tribute to the mastermind of the Canadian Conspiracy, William Lyon Mackenzie King. In 1985, Greene moved to endear Toronto, Ontario's Megan Follows as American's new sweetheart. She stared as Anne in "Anne of Green Gables" and its sequel. In the early 1980's Greene proved he could turn the Conspiracy on a dime by announcing to his close circle of friends that they were going to take on the music industry. For years Canada's music industry had been disorganized. Anne Murray had been a mainstay of the American music industry and Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadian's "Auld Lang Syne" had become a hallmark of New Year's parties worldwide. Crosby, Stills and Nash became Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the addition of Toronto, Ontario's Neil Young. In the 1960's Randy Bachman played with the Guess Who, and in the 1970's, his Bachman-Turner Overdrive created the rock anthem "Taking Care of Business". Now Greene would head a concerted effort to conquer the American music industry. Although slow to take off, the Canadian Conspiracy's music endeavor would soon become a juggernaut. Some talents, such as Cory Hart and Glass Tiger only met with middling success, while others, such as Kingston, Ontario's Bryan Adams, were destined for superstardom. Unfortunately, Greene wouldn't live to see the success of his new endeavor. In 1987 he died under mysterious circumstances. Suspicion falls on Hollywood's Italian American community who saw control of Hollywood being wrestled away from them. Lorne Michaels was crowned the new monarch of the Canadian Conspiracy and moved swiftly to prove himself. In Canada he created "The Kids in the Hall" to develop new talent while in America he used his "Saturday Night Live" connections to produce a series of film comedies. Meanwhile, two stars on Michaels' "Saturday Night Live" began to shine: Brantford, Ontario's Phil Hartman and Scarborough, Ontario's Mike Myers. In 1992, Michaels brought Myers' character Wayne Campbell to the big screen in "Wayne's World". Having lost Michael J. Fox's Alex P. Keaton, America's youth now had a new role model. Those looking for a more upstanding role model tuned in to "Beverly Hills, 90210" and caught Vancouver, British Columbia's Jason Priestley playing the fine and upstanding Brandon Walsh. On another television comedy variety program, Fox's "In Living Color", another Canadian was making a name for himself. Newmarket, Ontario's Jim Carrey was on his way to being declared the funniest man on American television. Leslie Nielsen took a short lived television series and turned it into the successful "Naked Gun" film series. Soon he was considered the king of movie slapstick. After some coaxing, seeing her potential, in 1989 Lorne Michaels, through manager Rene Angelil, lured Celine Dion away from the French Canadian music industry and remade her into an English music diva. Her first English album, "Unison", was released in 1990. From 1991 to 1992, Ladysmith, British Columbia's buxom Pamela Anderson played the Tool Time Girl on TV's "Home Improvements". She quickly moved on to star on the world's most popular television program, "Baywatch". In 1994, Jim Carrey broke into cinema with his "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective". He soon became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. Not to be outdone, James Cameron was also swimming in money, producing huge budget blockbuster and blockbuster. SCTV's John Candy had moved on to family oriented comedies. Several other SCTV alumna had already proven their worth with such films as "Ghostbusters" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids". By the mid 1990's, Lorne Greene's dream of a Hollywood run by Canadians was on the verge of reality. But the best was yet to come. In 1995, Edgar Bronfman's Canadian distillery giant Seagrams bought MCA and Universal, marking only the beginning of a buying spree that would eventually include A&M Music and Polygram Music and Poylgram Filmed Entertainment. Canadians now OWNED Hollywood. Then, almost as if to punctuate the decade, James Cameron gave us "Titanic", the most expensive, and highest grossing film of all time. Through the art of fine deal making, Celine Dion was signed to film's theme song, making it one of the highest grossing singles of all time, and cementing Dion's position as the world's #1 diva. Today new Canadian talent flocks to Hollywood. Women like Alanis Morissette and Shania Twain rule the music industry while Neve Campbell has become America's latest sweetheart. The Canadian Conspiracy is a success.

The events on this web page are entirely fictional. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places, or events is purely coincidental.

All content and images © Raul Burriel.