The Hydrogen Purchase

The Hydrogen Purchase is a historical event occuring in Gravenhurst, Long, and Periodic Table Regions. On May 1, 2009, the soverignty of a piece of massive tract of land covering the former municipalities of Hydrogen, Boron, and parts of northern Long Region was transferred to Gravenhurst Region.

The Hydrogen Purchase occurred in the most densely population three regions in the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas. Though the massive tract of land is sparsely populated (population est. 20,000), the purchase received massive media attention in all three regions.

Overview
The massive tract of land purchased by Gravenhurst Region covers the northeast portion of the Township of Sarnia in Long Region, and the entire Independent Municipality of Hydrogen. The area accounts for a total land area of 50,000 squared kilometers, which is about half of Gravenhurst Region's current size.

2002: R.M. of Periodic Table seeks relocation of I.M. of Hydrogen
In 2002, nationalists of the former City of Hydrogen began a series of intense actions and protests in demand of a "free Hydrogen". As the city of Hydrogen was striving for independence, the Periodic Table Region began to discuss plans to prevent this from happening. On May 14, 2002, the Parliament of Periodic Table, located in Oxygen, Periodic Table, decided to hold a vote to let the people in the city to decide the city's future fate. There were three choices: 1) Remain in the Periodic Table Region; 2) To become an independent municipality, but still under the jurisdiction of Periodic Table Region; 3) To join with the nearby Gravenhurst Region or Long Region.

The vote came out to 62% of people voting to become an independent municipality. The Act of Independent Municipality, 2002, was passed on July 4, 2002, to give Hydrogen a special status named "Independent Municipality", which gave power to Hydrogen City Government to perform any tasks to the city (other than being separate from the region), and may request help from the Region any time.

The Act, also due to many popular requests, also assigned land of City of Boron and the City of Carbon to become part of Hydrogen. And since Boron and Carbon have a much better living environment (the original site of Hydrogen is in the middle of a very dense forest, and therefore, the city is always affected by natural factors), the Act also gave power to the city to relocate everything into the former cities of Boron and Carbon.

The relocation was executed by the local Premier (a special title given to the leader of an independent municipality) Jean-Pierre Anglepourr, and by 2005, much of Hydrogen City has been relocated to the old city of Boron site.

2003: Issue was brought up in the Parliament
As a result of the Act of Independent Municipality in 2002 south of Gravenhurst Region's border, a popular talk of taking over the massive tract of land left behind by Hydrogen City became a daily topic in Gravenhurst. On August 24, 2003, the issue was brought up in the Parliament, about the purchase of Hydrogen. The government proposed to purchase this piece of land and establish the region's first ultra-regional park. The argument was that Gravenhurst Region have lack of space for natural greenspace, and that the new land will add greenlands to the region, as well as granting more lands to Aborginal Reserves. As well, the money paid for the tract of land can also help out Gravenhurst's neighbours' financial debt, as Gravenhurst have such a gigantic surplus.

2004: The first vote
On January 17, 2004, the Parliament held a vote within the parliament. The purchase received a mixed view, with only 61% of the Parliament members supporting. Nonetheless, there was enough votes for the purchase to pass to the Second Reading. However, the topic was seemed to be forgotten by much of the regioners, as there were other bills such as the Immigration Bill of 2005 to resolve, and therefore the topic was not brought up again until 2006.

2006: Referendum with the regions
On January 20, 2006, Gravenhurst Region sent out its representatives to a referendum held in Oxygen, Periodic Table, to discuss about the purchase. At this time, since Long Region also have a slight debt as well, and would like to pay it off, Long Region also showed up in the referendum, showing interests to sell off parts of its Sarnia Townships, the portion just north of the Chippewa Reserves. The referendum result came out to that all three regions reached a deal of selling the land to Gravenhurst Region for $151 billion, as well the boundaries of land sold was drawn.

2006: The Second Vote and the Popular Vote
On September 18, 2006, the Second Vote in the Parliament was held, and this time with over 74% of support. The Second Reading was passed. The Third Reading would require the public to vote in a Popular Vote, which was held on December 23, 2006, when the public voted. A narrow victory was presented, as only 50.04% of the population supported the bill. The vote was re-counted 3 times to ensure fairness, and the final result showed that the public has 50.27% of support in the issue, making the bill legal in Gravenhurst Region.

2007: The King was notified
According to the Basic Law (Aborginal: 基本法) Section 129(c), any transfer of land and money between Regions must be informed to the King. Therefore, on April 2, 2007, Nicholas Day, representatives from all three regions sent representatives to the country's capital, located in Watersauga, to inform him about the decision.

2008: The Act of Hydrogen Purchase
On January 1, 2008, the Act of Hydrogen Purchase, which passed all three readings and obtained the King's approval, was made legal in the Gravenhurst Region. The Act suggests a transfer of land to occur on May 1, 2009, and Gravenhurst Region may obtain full soverignty and full rights to the land until other regional governments wanted to purchase the land or unless the king's decision otherwise.

The other two regions also passed similar acts on April 27, 2008, and August 13, 2008 respectively.

2009: Transfer of soverignty
On May 1, 2009, all three regional Prime Ministers signed the Official Regional Act of Hydrogen Purchase at Millenium Point, the former border between all three regions. The deal was signed there, and from 12:00 PM local time, the soverignty was officially transferred, with the King handing over the O.R.A. for Gravenhurst's Prime Minister to keep in Gravenhurst County Hall.

A ceremony of putting up a sign saying "Gravenhurst Region - Township of Millenium Point" was placed in the spot, and taking down the former sign of "The Millenium Point, where Three Regions Meet". Two municipalities are created as of May 2, 2009, and they are the Township of Millenium Point and the Township of Algonquin Woods. The Townships of Hydrogen Falls, Wellesley, Overlea, Marcville, Fort Erie, Airborn - Oppel, were all extended its boundaries to include parts of this newly purchased land.

Overall effect
The Government of Gravenhurst spent $151 billion of its liquid cash (about 25% of the entire government's liquid cash) to purchase this piece of land. About 25% of the money was paid to Long Region, and about 70% paid to Periodic Table Region, and 5% paid to the Independent Municipality of Hydrogen.

Aftermath
The Museum of the Hydrogen Purchase is set up and opened to the public in May 2009 when the bill becomes effective. The museum is located in the community of Kenneth Beaches in the town of Airborn - Oppel.