Formidable heritage : Manitoba's north and the cost of development, 1870 to 1930

Canadians have an ambivalent feeling towards the North. Although climate and geography make our northern condition apparent, Canadians often forget about the north and its problems. Nevertheless, for the generation of historians that included Lower, Creighton, and Morton, the northern rivers, lakes, forests, and plains were often seen as primary characters in the drama of nation building. W.L. Morton even went so far as to write that the ìmain task of Canadian life has been to make something of that formidable heritageî of the northern Canadian shield. For many politicians and developers, "to make something" of the North came to mean thinking of the North as an empty hinterland waiting to be exploited, and today, hydroelectric projects, mining, milling, pulp and paper, and other industries have changed much of the North beyond recognition.One of the first parts of the North to be aggressively industrialized was northern Manitoba. When all of Manitoba was given in 1670 to a group of entrepreneurs, a precedent was set that was replicated throughout the provinceís history. After the province entered confederation in 1870, provincial politicians and business leaders began to look to the northern resources as a new key to the provinceís economic development. Particularly after 1912, they saw resource development in the North as a strategy to expand the provincial economy from its agricultural base. Jim Mochoruk shows how government and business worked together to transform what had been the exclusive fur-trading preserve of the Hudsonís Bay Company into an industrial hinterland. He follows the many twisting paths established by developers and politicians as they chased their goal of economic growth, and recounts the ultimate costs of development in economic, ecological, and political terms. Canadians have an ambivalent feeling towards the North. Although climate and geography make our northern condition apparent, Canadians often forget about the north and its problems. Nevertheless, for the generation of historians that included Lower, Creighton, and Morton, the northern rivers, lakes, forests, and plains were often seen as primary characters in the drama of nation building. W.L. Morton even went so far as to write that the main task of Canadian life has been to make something of that formidable heritage of the northern Canadian shield. For many politicians and developers, “to make something” of the North came to mean thinking of the North as an empty hinterland waiting to be exploited, and today, hydroelectric projects, mining, milling, pulp and paper, and other industries have changed much of the North beyond recognition. One of the first parts of the North to be aggressively industrialized was northern Manitoba. When all of Manitoba was given in 1670 to a group of entrepreneurs, a precedent was set that was replicated throughout the province's history. After the province entered confederation in 1870, provincial politicians and business leaders began to look to the northern resources as a new key to the province's economic development. Particularly after 1912, they saw resource development in the North as a strategy to expand the provincial economy from its agricultural base. In Formidable Heritage, Jim Mochoruk shows how government and business worked together to transform what had been the exclusive fur-trading preserve of the Hudson's Bay Company into an industrial hinterland. He follows the many twisting paths established by developers and politicians as they chased their goal of economic growth, and recounts the ultimate costs of development in economic, ecological, and political terms. Canadians have an ambivalent feeling towards the North. Although climate and geography make our northern condition apparent, Canadians often forget about the north and its problems. Nevertheless, for the generation of historians that included Lower, Creighton, and Morton, the northern rivers, lakes, forests, and plains were often seen as primary characters in the drama of nation building. W.L. Morton even went so far as to write that the ìmain task of Canadian life has been to make something of that formidable heritageî of the northern Canadian shield. For many politicians and developers, "to make something" of the North came to mean thinking of the North as an empty hinterland waiting to be exploited, and today, hydroelectric projects, mining, milling, pulp and paper, and other industries have changed much of the North beyond recognition. One of the first parts of the North to be aggressively industrialized was northern Manitoba. When all of Manitoba was given in 1670 to a group of entrepreneurs, a precedent was set that was replicated throughout the provinceís history. After the province entered confederation in 1870, provincial politicians and business leaders began to look to the northern resources as a new key to the provinceís economic development. Particularly after 1912, they saw resource development in the North as a strategy to expand the provincial economy from its agricultural base. Jim Mochoruk shows how government and business worked together to transform what had been the exclusive fur-trading preserve of the Hudsonís Bay Company into an industrial hinterland. He follows the many twisting paths established by developers and politicians as they chased their goal of economic growth, and recounts the ultimate costs of development in economic, ecological, and political terms. Cover Contents Maps and Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter One: The Pre-Development Era: 1670 to 1872 Chapter Two: The Dominion's North: 1871 to 1891 Chapter Three: The Entrepreneurs' North: The Land of Opportunity to 1900 Chapter Four: Manitoba's Fight for Equality: 1870 to 1912 Chapter Five: The Development of Manitoba's Middle North: 1896 to 1912 Chapter Six: The Development of New Manitoba and the Fight for Equality: 1912 to 1922 Chapter Seven: Booms, Busts, and the Politics of Tripartite Development: 1918 to 1925 Chapter Eight: Premier Bracken's Struggle for Development: 1925 to 1930 Chapter Nine: The Consummation and Costs of Development: 1925 to 1930 Conclusion Endnotes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z "Jim Mochoruk shows how government and business worked together to transform northern Manitoba from the exclusive fur-trading reserve of the Hudson's Bay Company into an industrial hinterland. Along the way, he also details the intricate dealings of the many entrepreneurs who came to the north, such as the colorful Captain William Robinson and Peter McArthur, and the fate of such impractical schemes as the millions of dollars invested in building an artificial island at remote Port Nelson. With impeccable research, Formidable Heritage reveals the full price and impact of short-sighted development for the land and people of the north."--Jacket