Power for a Province: A History of Saskatchewan Power by Clinton O. White (review)

REVIEWS 509 While Professor A.G. Baileystatesin hisforewordthat thisbookis merelythe preliminarytoanothergiving'acomplete pictureof theinterplayof politicalforces over the periodof the lastcentury,'the secondvolumewill be difficultto write withoutserious overlapping andduplication withthefirst.But perhapsa reviewer shouldsimplysaythat, givenhis conceptionof the first volume,the author has carriedit throughin anadequate manner. j. MURRAY BECK Dalhousie University PowerJbr a Province: A History ofSaskatchewan Power. CLINTON O.WH•TW. Canadian Plains Research Centre,University ofRegina, •976.Pp.xii,37o,illus.$5.95. 'Strange aretheways of politics' - afittingepitaphwhichconcludes ClintonWhite's extensive and detailedhistoryof the Saskatchewan PowerCorporation,a history whichstretches from theestablishment of thefirstindependentgeneratingstations in the •89osthroughtheevolutionof a provincially integratedenergycorporation facingthepowerchallenges ofthemid-•97os.The political referenceistothecentral themeofthebook- thatthedevelopment ofaneconomically andtechnically efficient province-wide electrical utilitywasheldupfor thirty-fiveyearsuntil •965bypolitical considerations andconflicts. The majorconflict wasnotprimarilybetween advocates of publicandprivateownership, suchhadbeenthecentralissue in Manitobain the earlyyearsof the century,althoughtheissuewasnot entirelyabsent.Rather,the primary divisionlay betweenadvocates of provincialownershipof an integrated system basedon large-scale centralpowergeneration and advocates of municipal controlof individual,isolatedgenerationand distributionelectricalutilities.The prime advocates of localpowersystems werethe municipalpoliticians themselves who,byoverpricing electricity rates, wereabletoavoidresponsibility forestablishing adequatetaxrates. Whatwasthe priceof thispoliticalnearsightedness? Asthe authorhimselfconcludes ,'Duplicationof facilitiesand efforts,avoidableinefficiency in the useof existing facilities, and...failuretoutilizetheborrowing poweroftheProvince tobest advantagemusthaveled to the dissipation of substantial sums... And thesewere merelythedirectlosses... The totallosses areincalculable, butitisquiteprobable that theywereconsiderable' (256-7). White identifiestwoturning pointsin the evolutionof the Saskatchewan Power Corporation.The first, the •928 report of the Saskatchewan Power Resources Commission, recommended, contraryto the adviceof the consulting engineers, Sullivan, KippandChase ofWinnipeg,against theconstruction ofaprovincial power poolserved bya largecentralthermal'generating stationbasedon lowcostlignite fromsouthern Saskatchewan; andin favourof thecontinuation of localgeneration. The obvious inference ofthebook,particularly theappendix, wasthatrejection was theresultof, or moreprobably justifiedby,theincorrect manipulation of informationbythecommission to producetheconclusion favouringnon-integrated operationaftertherejection of thepoolingproposal byRegina,Moosejaw, andSaskatoon 510 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW on 'the selfish whimsof the majorcities'(5o). The inevitableconclusion isthat the municipalpoliticians did notservetheir constituents well,wishing instead to maintaintheirlocalpowerfiefdoms . The second majorturningpointwasthecommitment bytheDouglas ccFgovernmentafterthewartodevelop aprovince-wide integrated system. Whilethegovernment 's commitment was less aggressive thanitmighthavebeenandnotunmarked by compromises withthecities resulting ininequities andinefficiencies, thefactremains that with the purchase of the Reginapowerutilityin •964 the provincefinally attainedan efficientandintegratedprovincialpowerand gassystem that encompassed bothrural andurbanareas. Professor Whiteamasses extensive technical detailin defenceof hisposition which, whileundoubtedly strengthening hisargument, makes for ratherheavy reading.A moresubstantial criticism couldbemadeof theauthor's somewhat cursory treatment of the abjectfailureof the Saskatchewan pressto defendtheinterests of provincial residents.All through the bookis evidenceof politicalpartisanship, inadequate reporting,anddubious editorializing in supportof narrowfactional interests that delayed forsolongthedevelopment ofreliable andefficient powerintheprovince. It issafetosaythattheconsumers of Saskatchewan deserved morethantheyreceived from their press.Giventhe currentcriticisms by the pressof the inadequacy of government policies atalllevels, itispertinenttoaskhowmanyofthese inadequacies areduetothepartisan interests of theselfsame press. Power for aProvince obviously gives nodefinitive answer, butitcertainly raises thequestion. PAUL PHILLIPS University ofManitoba Quebec: SocialChange andPoliticalCrisis.I)^i•wPOSe;aTE and •CwNNwTI-I •tCROBWRVS. Toronto,McClelland& Stewart,•976. Pp.viii,2•6. $4.95. In thisnewvolumein theCanadain Transitionseries, DalePosgate andKenneth McRoberts, bothassistant professors of politicalscience at York University,setout not onlyto bringusup to dateon the so-called Quebec'problem'but also,more importantly,to placetheir discussion in an historical and theoretical perspective involvingpoliticalmodernization andsocial andeconomic change. Their success in fulfillingthese twoobjectives, andparticularly thelatterone,makes thisbookoneof thebesttohaveappearedonQuebecin thepastdecade. In agreement withmoststudents of theperiod,theauthorsaffirmtheexistence of a 'lag'in politicalmodernization in pre-•96o Quebec.'The responsibilities of the Quebec government werenotexpanded tothedegree thatonewouldexpect, given thelevels of [social andeconomic] development,' theyexplain(89).Partoftheblame lieswiththenationalists: onlya minorityamongthemattempted to focus attention upontherealeconomic andsocial problems oftheirdayandeventhose fewgenerally failed (asAndr•-J. B•langer pointsout in hisApolitisme des ide'ologies qudbdcoises) to envisage recourse topolitical solutions, thusmakingiteasier forMaurice Duplessis to abandon rapidlythe•,i•Nprogramme aftercomingto powerin •936. (The reader ...