Prairie Perspectives: Geographical Essays
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Prairie Perspectives i PRAIRIE PERSPECTIVES: GEOGRAPHICAL ESSAYS Edited by Jacek I. Romanowski Department of Geography The University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Volume 3, October 2000 ii Prairie Perspectives ©Copyright 2000, The University of Manitoba Department of Geography Printed by University of Winnipeg Printing Services ISBN 0-9694203-4-X Prairie Perspectives iii Table of Contents Preface ............................................................................................................... v An early example of globalisation: the Hudson’s Bay Company’s interlocking directorships J. Selwood ......................................................................................................... 1 Causes of the billion-dollar drought in North America in 1999 - a verification study E.R. Garnett .................................................................................................... 17 The utility of global teleconnection indices for long-range crop forecasting on the Canadian prairies S.M. Quiring, D. Blair .................................................................................... 23 Airport infrastructure as an instrument for regional economic development M.A. Crockatt, J. Ogston ................................................................................ 62 Ice-shoved hills and related glaciotectonic features in the Glacial Lake Proven Basin, Riding Mountain uplands, Manitoba R.A. McGinn ................................................................................................... 84 Soil acidity (pH) as influenced by point-source pollution from a base-metal smelter, Flin Flon, Manitoba G.A.J. Scott ..................................................................................................... 97 Public policy in natural resource management: parks, protected areas and network of special places in Manitoba, Canada C.E. Haque, S.D. Reddy, J. Adams .............................................................. 111 Gated communities: coming soon to a neighbourhood near you! J.L. Golby ...................................................................................................... 137 From Christianity to Communism: a Russian colony on the banks of the Rio Uruguay S. Cipko, J.C. Lehr ....................................................................................... 150 iv Prairie Perspectives Contested identities: competing articulations of the national heritage of pioneer settlers in Misiones, Argentina J.C. Lehr, S. Cipko ........................................................................................ 165 The Tatra Mountains and Zakopane through the eyes of two artists: Witkacy and Tetmajer A. Holub, P. Simpson-Housley..................................................................... 181 Prairie Perspectives v Preface The 23rd Annual Meeting of the Prairie Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers in Winnipeg (September 24-26, 1999) was both an intellectually and socially stimulating occasion. The Meeting was hosted by the Department of Geography, University of Manitoba. With regard to the academic component of the Meeting, no fewer than thirty-nine papers and posters were presented in formal sessions. A pleasing feature of the sessions was the participation of not only academic staff members of the institutions included within our Division, but also the level of student involvement. The papers included in this volume afford a representative selection of the diverse presentations at the Meeting which have subsequently been peer-reviewed. As Head of the host Department, I wish to thank the many people who generously contributed to the success of the Meeting. Particular thanks are due to Michael P. Conzen (University of Chicago) for a most stimulating keynote address entitled Urban Life on the Great Plains: A Historico-Geographical Interpretation, which was immediately preceded by eloquent welcoming remarks from James S. Gardner (Vice-President Academic and Provost, University of Manitoba). I am also grateful to H. Len Sawatzky for a memorable and excellent rural field trip on the Saturday afternoon of the Meeting. Jacek I. Romanowski (Chair, Organizational Committee) not only deserves thanks for working tirelessly to ensure that everything ran smoothly during the Meeting, but for assuming the daunting task of editing this volume. The encouragement of active support of both Raymond F. Currie (Former Dean of Arts, University of Manitoba) and Robert P. O’Kell (Dean of Arts, University of Manitoba) are gratefully acknowledged. Others to whom special thanks are due include Trudy Baureiss, Danny Blair, Alex Morrison, David Mosscrop, John Selwood, Gina M. Sylvestre, Ramesh C. Tiwari, and Janet Vander Kruys. Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to our vi Prairie Perspectives generous sponsors who included The Dean’s Office of The Faculty of Arts – University of Manitoba, Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI), Casa de Fruta, Manitoba Association for Resource Recovery Corporation, Manitoba Hydro, Pepsi Co., and Tim Horton’s. Geoffrey C. Smith, Head Department of Geography University of Manitoba Prairie Perspectives vii viii Prairie Perspectives Prairie Perspectives 1 An early example of globalisation: the Hudson’s Bay Company’s interlocking directorships John Selwood University of Winnipeg Abstract: The interlocking directorships of Hudson’s Bay Company directors are examined for a period of fifty years straddling the beginning of the twentieth century. Throughout the period they exhibited high levels of inter-connectivity with a broad spectrum of business enterprises that had interests over widely dispersed parts of the globe. Further investigation indicated that the nature of the inter-connectivity was complex, sometimes to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s advantage, but sometimes the reverse. Thus, while interlocking directorships can be a useful indicator of the potential relationships between companies, they do not in themselves necessarily reveal much more than that. Introduction Contrary to current popular opinion, globalisation of the world’s economy is not an outgrowth of the post-modern era. It has been a force to be reckoned with at least since the main period of European colonial expansion and the onset of the industrial revolution. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), which boasts of being the world’s longest surviving corporate entity, is a prime example of an early trans-national commercial institution with extensive ties to other economic entities through its own activities and those of other organizations linked to it through its directors’ interlocking directorships. Although the HBC was engaged in an extensive range of commercial activities and exploitation of resources at an international level, this paper will focus on the scope and nature of the global linkages formed by the multiple directorships held by 2 Prairie Perspectives indirect Controlling links Companies covert backward links overt indirect side links Interlocking links Directorships overt forward covert links Subsidiaries indirect links Figure 1: Forms of cross company linkages. the various Court members (directors) of the company over a period of some fifty years spanning the turn of the twentieth century. Cross company linkages can occur in a variety of ways (Figure 1). They can be formal or informal, overt or covert (although not necessarily clandestine), strong or weak, backward, forward or sideways. Based on the methodology adapted and used very effectively in a Canadian context by Semple and colleagues (Semple 1973; Semple 1985; Semple 1996; Green and Semple 1981; Semple and Phipps 1982; Rice and Semple 1993), this paper deals primarily with the HBC’s overt formal linkages with other companies through its directors’ directorships in other companies as listed in the British Directory of Directors (Skinner 1880-1924) published annually since 1880. These cross listings, in effect, represent only the horizontal, or sideways linkages. That is, they imply an association between otherwise independent enterprises. However, the relationships are not necessarily equal. One enterprise may well Prairie Perspectives 3 Table 1: HBC subsidiaries Winnipeg and Western Transportation Co. Red River and Assiniboine Bridge Co. Vancouver Coal Mining Co. Puget Sound Agricultural Society Ltd. Russian American Co. Hudson’s Bay North Russian Trading Co. Canada Land and Irrigation Co. Nascopi Steamship Co. Northern Traders Ltd. Northern Traders Reindeer Co. Northwest Exploration Co. C.M. Lampson and Co. Revillon Freres Trading Co. H.B.C. Overseas Settlement Co. Hudson Bay Oil and Gas Co. plus Agreements exert control over the other. A subsidiary company is generally answerable to its parent. From the perspective of the parent, its relationship with the subsidiary company is that of a forward or downward linkage. Conversely, the subsidiary, or company that is controlled, maintains a backward or upward linkage with its parent or dominant partner. The interlocking directorships do not always reveal these relationships, and to appreciate them, it is necessary to investigate further. One complication is that most of the HBC’s subsidiary companies are not listed – possibly because they were not registered in England and, as a result, not incorporated into Skinner’s Directory. Table 1 identifies companies that were subsidiaries of the HBC during the period under discussion. However, not all of them had boards of directors that included serving members of the parent board. One example is the Red