Urban Lives: Fragmentation and Resistance

Eileen Goltz is an associate librarian and chair of the Public Services
Department at Laurentian University.

This book theorizes that the reasons for Atlantic Canada’s persistent
economic troubles relate to the powerful influences of Central Canada on
the region, and provides a good overview of urbanization and community
development as it relates to population dynamics in the region over the
past 125 years.

Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and
Newfoundland) is categorized into four zones: metropolitan centres
(e.g., Halifax, Saint John, St. John’s); industrial centres (e.g.,
Moncton, Sydney, Pictou, Grand Falls/Cornerbrook); farming areas (e.g.,
Annapolis Valley, Saint John Valley, Prince Edward Island); and coastal
littoral areas. From a historical view, the authors give a well-rounded
analysis of the impacts on each zone of the policies of the Canadian
government, the political economy of the region, and the actions of both
local and outside merchants and capitalists. Their analyses cover
Confederation to the end of the 19th century and the integration of the
railway network with Central Canada; the 1890s to World War I, when
secondary manufacturing such as coal and steel was established; the
1920s to the 1940s, when much of the industrial sector collapsed and
staple resource prices were depressed; and the 1950s to the present,
when urban centres grew and regional political relationships underwent
much change.

The authors have skimmed over Prince Edward Island’s and
Newfoundland’s community development history, perhaps because of their
historical uniqueness in comparison with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Hence, the treatment of the latter two provinces is much more thorough.
The book is illustrated with fascinating tables of population movements,
period photographs, and somewhat-difficult-to-decipher maps. It is
generally easy to read and well thought out, and will be of interest to
historians and others interested in Atlantic Canada.