The Opening of the Canadian North 1870–1914 by Morris Zaslow (review)

REVIEWS 89 advantages weredeniedthe small-scale familybusiness. Corporateenterprisewasa response to theincreasing scale of theAmericaneconomy; it wasnotan innovation required within the narrower confinesof the Quebec economy.But perhaps Quebec'sfailure to seizecontrolof its economicdestinyin the latter part of the nineteenthcenturymaybeviewedasastruggle between different formsof capitalist production.The pointshouldbetakenup. The atlaswhichisintendedto gowiththe bookisnot sufficiently linkedwith the bodyof the text. Maps designedto showtransformationsin agricultureusenoncomparableunits of measurement.Other mapsare hard to read: quantitiesare represented bycircles of varyingdiameterwhicharenoteasyto compare.The atlas suffers fromanattempttocramtoomuchinformationintotoolittlespace. It isa tributeto Hamelin and Robythat their bookunravelslarge new areasof inquiryintotheeconomic historyof Quebec.Roughhewn astheir pioneeringeffort maybe,itwillexcite theenvyofscholars working onotherregions ofCanada. JOS•E. IGARTUA University ofWestern Ontario TheOpening oftheCanadian North•87o-•9• 4. MORRIS Z•,SLOW. CanadianCentenary Series. Toronto/Montreal, McClclland andStewart,•97•- PP.xii,339,illus.$•2.5o. Within littlemorethana decadeafterConfederation,Canadaoccupied mostof the northernhalf of the North Americancontinent.After •87o Rupert'sLand andthe North WesternTerritory, heldbytheHudson'sBayCompanybycharterandlease, becamethe responsibility of the centralgovernmentand it isfrom thispoint that ProfessorZaslowtakesup the chronicleof its occupationand development.The sheersizeof the territory is an intimidatingfact, and to tackleits historyin a comprehensive wayfor thefirsttimeisachallenge for themostrobustmind.Forthe mostpart,theauthorhassucceeded. Canada's north,theessentially emptyland,isa sort of nationalsecuritywhere an economicfuture lies in trust that impartsa distinctionand optimismto our nation. Yet it is not well known to Ganadimls generally,and Professor Zaslowscores hisgreatestsuccess in the contributionhe makesto overcome thisthct.Moreover,ashe gatherstogetherand integrates the broad spectrumof social,ecouomic,and politicalevents,the rolesof heroesand lesser-known individuals, theauthorhasbeenabletoconvey verywellthetrueimage of whatthenortfianditswayof lifewaslikeduringthattime. In theprefaceweareremindedthatthenorthof •870isnotthestone regionasthe uorth of •97o; a definitionof north todayis generallytaken to be the part of the country polewardof the zone of more or lesscontinuoussettlement.Within this modern north is the broad swath of the close-crowned belt of the boreal forest for whichtheterm 'Middle North' isbecomingcommon.Thesedefinitions,usedin the text, are not universallyacceptedand I found it hard to meet 'North' or 'Middle North' in thebookandgivethemanythingbut themoderninterpretation. The bulk of the book is related to Ganada's assault on its frontier. The role of transportationiscentral,and it iswoveninto the storyof resourceexplorationand recovery.It contends withtheoverlapping responsibilities andpolicies of dominion 90 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW andprovincial governments, for most oftheaction issetwithintheexisting ornewly createdprovincial realism. Yet it isnoteasyto discern a themeto thebook.The patternof steady spread of settlement andaccompanying economic growthmarks thecharacter ofoccupance ofagricuhurallandsandtheaccessible areas offorestand mining wealth. Activityin the real north is, in contrast,sporadic,intense,and short-lived, andiscompletely incharacter witha regionthatprotects itswealthwith thehostilechallengeof harshclimate,distance, andisolation. The author hasdemonstrated that the openingof the Canadiannorth wasuniquelydifferentfromtheconquest oftheAmerican west, andinpart,fromapprehensionof theexperience andpressure from belowtheborder,theroleof government in controlandasplannerfor changecomes clear.Dominionauthorityalmostalways arrivedsynchronously or in advance of newdevelopments andi•nmigration; Arctic sovereignty was,bygovernment action,notreallyallowedtobequestioned successfully .The patternof government goingbefore,withlaws,railways, resource allocations ,and developmentfollowingis not without its failures,asProfessorZaslow makesusaware.However,it isinterestingto learntheextenttowhichsomegovernmentsdeveloped arationalresource planningapproachwithexploration,inventory, analysis, andallocation. In writing thishistory,Professor Zaslowhasmanagedto leavethe reader the feelingthat it ishistory from the north, and not simplyfor or of the north. This achievement comesin part bythe attentionpaidto nativepeopleand their contacts withtradersandmissionaries - thefirsttimethatthissubject hasbeenintegrated into theoverallstoryof northernCanada. Historians andothersshouldwelcome thisverywellwrittenbookwhichbroadens ourunderstanding of Canadianhistorybytreatingthatregionofthecountrywithout whichCanadians wouldhavelessreasonto feel distinctive, secure,optimistic,and proud. J.K. STAGER U,iz,er•'i(¾ qfBriti,•h Columbia Not a O•te-WayStreet:The Autobiography ofJame,•S. Du•tca•t.J^M•Ss. OUNC^N. Toronto/Vancouver, Clarke,Irwin, •97•. Pp.x, •6•. $9.•5. Fortheauthoritative history of Massey-Harris/Massey-Ferguson duringthepresidency (194•-56) ofJames s.Duncan, thereader willhavetoconsult E.P.Neufeld's massive study, A Global Corporatio• (Toronto•969).Neufeldcredits Duncan with 'great contributions' tothecompany's success intheearlyyears ofhisleadership, but blames himlargely forthecompany's near-bankruptcy bythemid-•95os duetohis failureto understand or approveof moderntechniques of organization andmanagement . Duncan's ownautobiography offersnocompelling reason torevise those judg•nents. Instead,it reinforces Neufeld'spictureof Duncanasa conservative 'companyqnan,' educated in thebusiness andin some ways a master of it,butalso disastrously hostile toorganizational theory,management consultants, outsiders in general,and academic theorists in particular.The title retbrsto an attributeof loyalty,and Mr Duncan'hasneverhad muchtime for thosewhose approachto business istoughandruthless, andwhose interests arecentered infinancial gain.' ...