The Political Economy of the Canadian North: An Interpretation of the Course of Development in the Northern Territories of Canada to the Early 1960s

In recent years northern development has increasingly become a controversial issue in Canadian federal politics: the ensuing confusion of economic arguments and political discussion demonstrates the disorderly and inaccurate thinking of most Canadians on the subject. Professor Rea points out that the development of northern Canada has not been the spontaneous natural process which many Canadians seem to think: this traditional view has over-emphasized the climate and other natural influences on development at the expense of the more powerful forces of constitutional law, government policy, native culture, and western technology.

This study offers a more balanced interpretation of the processes of development which shaped and limited the growth of economic and political life in the Yukon and Northwest Territories between the 1890s and the early 1960s. Much emphasis is placed on the role of government policy which was one of “developmental laissez-faire” until after the Second World War. Until this time, Professor Rea points out, the government really had little idea of what to do with the north: its policy was to minimize the cost of maintaining control over these lands, to “protect” their native populations from outside influences, and not to hinder any private enterprise determined to undertake resource development in the area. This laissez-faire policy collapsed in the late 1940s. in subsequent years, and particularly as a direct result of the “Roads to Resources Programme” of the late 1950s, there has been a tremendous expansion of government activity in the areas of welfare services and public investments in transportation and electric power. Professor Rea examines the general effects of this programme on the growth of the north and suggests a basis upon which a new general policy for development might be evolved.

This well-documented and challenging work is an invaluable contribution to the study of government policy and northern development and should be read by everyone concerned with the future of Canada.

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