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Chapter 11 From Company Town Setting to Regional Constellation (1939–1973) The global situation of the 1940s and 1950s was fortuitous for the Sudbury area, as it set the stage for major economic and population growth. This growth, in turn, allowed the region to shed its former colonial frontier image. The relatively simple town of 1930 had matured into a crowded city, and the faint remnants of the dirty thirties had long disappeared. New waves of immigration resulted in an expanded and more diversified cultural milieu. Due to its strategic importance for the war effort, the area weathered this turbulent period better than most other urban centres in Canada. The outbreaks of the Korean and Cold Wars continued this fortuitous trend. Provincially, Sudbury’s position in Northeastern Ontario was strengthened considerably. While the region attained the population level associated with that of a metropolis, however, the reality was that the urban structure lacked an essential feature associated with this status. Rather than displaying a strong central core surrounded by a circular zone of suburbs stretching into the hinterland, the population was dispersed in a pattern influenced by local topography, water bodies, the Sudbury Structure, the distribution of mining ownership and a variety of company-town settlements. The widespread clustering of the population thus came to resemble that of a constellation of stars centred on a larger orb, the City of Sudbury. While this aggregate form had some centripetal or uniting features, the political reality was much different. A multitude of municipal structures and other centrifugal forces came into being that overshadowed these integrating features. Divisiveness rather than unity ruled the political scene. While the core City of Sudbury continued to dominate the region in the postwar years, the ongoing vibrancy exhibited by its suburbs, outlying centres in the Valley, and elsewhere kept its dominance in check. A major casualty for the city was the loss of the downtown’s previous centrality and vibrancy. 186 From Company Town Setting to Regional Constellation By the late 1960s, these local issues all came to the forefront; provincial policies related to political restructuring also came into play. These twin forces eventually culminated in the formation of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury in 1973. The Second World War Era No better harbinger of Subury’s significance to the rest of the world can be found than the royal visit made by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Prime Minister Mackenzie King on Friday, June 2, 1939, just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. On this special occasion, the King and Queen of Canada were able to see, by means of a trip down into Frood Mine, the enormity of the mining resource that was to play such an important role in determining the outcome of the military conflict.1 It was perhaps the most festive event in local history. While the Second World War caused many local ripples, the overall effect was that Sudbury “suffered less than most cities and prospered more than most.”2 It was partly for this reason that the municipal political scene remained stable throughout the 1940s under the helm of Sudbury’s mayor, Bill Beaton (biography 8). While Sudbury prospered more than most cities, it nevertheless experienced its own problems. The most pressing was that of crowding. The city’s growth rate of 74 per cent in the 1930s was followed by another growth spurt of 32 per cent in the 1940s. This more than doubled the population in two decades. Compounding the crowding issue was the fact that, despite five annexations, the city’s boundaries had increased by only some 134 hectares between 1892 and 1951.3 Most of this expansion occurred in the southern part of the city, where the boundaries were extended to the Lily Creek area. Since much of the Biography 8 William “Bill” Beaton “Mayor of the People” (1895–1956) Bill Beaton was born on August 19, 1896 in the township of East Gwillimsbury, York County in Ontario. His parents were Scottish immigrants, and he was the youngest of six children. The family moved from the farm first to Huntsville and then to North Bay, where Beaton received his schooling. He worked for the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway in 1912 and was then hired by the CPR in 1915. He married Isla Robertson in 1921, and they raised five children. He transferred to Sudbury as assistant chief clerk of the CPR in 1921, where he remained until 1927. That year he...

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