The Coasts of Canada: A History

William A. Waiser is a professor of history at the University of
Saskatchewan. He is the author of Saskatchewan’s Playground: A History
of Prince Albert National Park and Park Prisoners: The Untold Story of
Western Canada’s National Parks, 1915–1946

The Coasts of Canada looks at the history of the country through the
lens of the Canadian coastline. It’s an unconventional, somewhat
provocative way of examining Canadian history—but something one might
expect from a person like author Lesley Choyce, an irrepressible surfer
and self-styled “coastal Canadian.”

Choyce argues that Canada does not have three coasts, but actually has
only a single long one—more than 70,000 kilometres in length. He then
sets out to tell the history of that coastline from its earliest
beginnings to the present day. Choyce’s chronological approach
sometimes makes for disjointed reading as he moves from the Atlantic to
the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. At the same time, it forces the reader
to think about Canada as a maritime country with a deep, unresolved
connection to the sea. Aboriginal people play a largely secondary role
in the narrative in favor of the activities of newcomers. The book is
also heavily weighted to the pre-Confederation period; the 20th century
deserves fuller treatment. The text would have benefited from more maps.
Finally, if readers are looking for some new conclusions from this
coastal approach, they will have to settle for what Choyce calls a
“northwest passage of the heart” that binds all coastal Canadians
together.