INSTANT TOWNS IN , BRITISH COLUMBIA: 1964 tc 1912 JOHN Ha BRADBURY B. A,, Victori'a University of Rellington, 1969 M.A., Victoria University of Wellington, 1972 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Geography @ JOHN H. BRADBURY 1977 SIHON PBASER UNIVERSITY April .I977 All rights reserved. This thesis may not he reproduced in whole or in part, by photocapy or other means, without permission of the author, APPROVAL Name : John Henry Bradbury Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Thesis: Instant Towns in British Columbia: 1964 to 1972 Examining Committee: Chairman: Edward J. Hickin ~obertH. Horsf%ll / bnior' Supervisor - -- Leonard J. Evenden gdward J. Gibson J. Wreford Watson Visiting Professor Department of Geography Simon Fraser University Brahm Weisman External Examiner Associate Professor Head, School of Community and Regional Planning University of British Columbia PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis or dissertation (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Dissertation : Instant Towns in Bri.tish Columbia: 1964 to 1972. Author : (signature) John H. Bradburv (name) ABSTRACT. I Resorirce towns in canacia have traditionally been company towns ovned and controlled by resource extraction companies. In British Columbia, between 1962 and 1972, the provincial qovernment attempted to replace company towns with a new urban form called "instant towns". This was to be achieved by means of special legislation under Section 10A of the MUNICIPAL ACT which legislated for local government, a municipal f ranchiae and new planned communities. In the ten years followirtg the initiation of the instant towns programme in British Columbia there appeared to he few changes in the social and economic milieu, for high labour turnover, alienation, and a sense of impermanence, instability and isolation all remained apparent, although it was these conditions which the creation of instant t.owns was meant to address. This thesis examines sane of the reasons why inany of these socio-economic characteristics persisted in the new instant towns, as wall as the reasons behind the creation of the new settlements, and the expectations of those who created and planned them. The instant town legislation which brought about the changes in local arranqements, town plaris and the ownership of housing, could not ensure that the problems associated with older company towns would disappear. The problems, includinq reliance on a single industry base, male dominance of tha workforce, isolation problems and instlbility of tenure, \ iii resulted not from matters addressed by the legislation and the 1 / town planners, hut from the very nature and the location of the enterprise in isolated areas. A refinement of the metropolis-hin terland model is used as a framework for discussion of the poiitical economy of British columbia in which the instant towns were created and shapad. he major elements of metropolitan control over the sh3pe and rate of development in the hinterland include the corporations, financial institutions and the state. In this thesis these three elements are defined as, first the multinatinnal corporations which were invited into Rritish Columbia between 1952 and 1972 to participat~in the expansion of resource explcit 3tion in thd province; sc-conci, f inancid institutions such as ~anadianbanks in Toronto and Horitreal, ' and foreign banks in New York, Europe and Japan; and third, the province of British rolumbia which had a Social Credit government under Premier W. A. C. Bennett throughout this - period. Discussion of the political economy enables an .~niilysisto bo made of the interlocking n3ture of these three elements, illustratinq how the corporations and banks were I i primarily interested in resource exploitntion and stable i 'r j places ir, which to invest, and the state was largely co~cerned:' with fulfillinq a facilitative role by providing necessary / j physical inf rastr,ucture and access to capital. One of the major reasons for the systemic problems of the company towns and instant towns was the continued dominance of the British Columbia resource 'extraction economy by large and increasinqly multinational corporations. This meant that towns and companies were subordinate and beholden to decisions made by the corporate directors and their management staffs, not at the local level but in major metropolitan centres including New ~ork,Toronto and Tokyo. The granting of local government dnd the enfranchisement of the workforce, generally served to change the focus of the costs of developing housing and physical in•’rastructure fro& the companies to the town reside~ts. The responsibility of running the town was transferred to the local government, but the companies, whether or not they desirad it, still maintained a form of control aver the growth, viability and longevity of the communities by virtue of their control over housing stocks, development land, their influsnce on municipal councils, and their hold over the tnajor source of capital and the source of income of the workforce. The raison dletre of the instant towns was no different than that of the older company towns. Labour turnover contiriued at high rates and the demographic profiles -- and age structures were distorted. For these reasons it is argued that the instant towns were simply a modern version of company towns, Indeed, the instant towns, with their planned appearance, their buildinq codes, their urban appsaranco'and mostly urban workforce, and their larqely wags labour population, I -8'I I are an imprint in th~hinterlnnd, of tha corporate and governm2nt ' identities in th~metropolis that cr+ated them, and that continue to dominate and control them. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, 1 would like to thank Bob tiorsfall, Lsn Evenden, and Ed Gibson for encouraginq the invastiqation of the subject of this thesis, and for their subsequent critical readings and editorial comments, Thanks are also due to my wife Bettina for editing, criticism 9f drafts, and int~llectualsupport, from the beginning with field work, to the and with writin~j, I also wish to thank my friqnds in the Vancouver U.S.G. for th?ir support, and for the onqoinq climate of critical awareness and intell~ctualstimulation. I wish to express my gratitude to C.M.H.C. for th* financial support provided by a Graduate Fellowship in Urban and ~egionalAffairs (1972 to 1976). TABLE OF CONTENTS. Abstract. Acknowledgement. vi vii Table of Contents Chapter One. INTRODUCTION. he Problam. Port Alice British Columbia - an cx-upla. The context of social and economic canditions in Instant Towns in British Columbi.3. 11 Chapter Two. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 24 Tht role of the Stata. 26 The role of th~ccrpn ~a tions. Th+ rqlt of finance and inv?stncnts. R el3 tsd literature. 3 3 orqanization dnJ sourcss. 4 3 Chapter Three. CORPORATE CONTROL OF HRITTSH COLUMBIA'S RESOURCE HTNT1:RLAND - 1962 - 1972. 52 " Forsign ownership ai:<1 dirc.c? ir. vv?st.n--nt. 54 4' changing patterns of production in ros9urcs industries in nritish ~olumbi3. 59 The changing Fatt~rr?~f J?~aneseInvjstments. 6 1 Corpor.ztc ifiterlocks ?nd wtropolit3n coutrols in the resourcs hintsrl<ind. 66 Own"rsh5.p interlocks in the ~ritishColumbia mining industry hetwecn 1962 and 1972. 70 Cominco - ;In int~rlcck-?dcorpordtion: Elkford and Fording coal company ~tll. 74 vii t b penetration by forei~ncorporations. 77 I ~hsownership and corporate structur.? of -;~ler:tc:l product industries in British Columhi,~, 1362-1972. 31 Chapter Four. THE POLICY AND POSTTIRE OF TFTE SOCIAL CREDIT GOVERNMENT IN BRITISH COLTWRIA 1952 to 1972. ----.- 'The ~014of Premi+r W .A.C. Bpnnett. 102 novalopment by invitati~n: Bsnrist t's courtstlip of f,oraiqn investments. 109 The role of the stat<? in British Columbid - 1952-1972. 117 Tha strategy for qrowth in the sxpansionist period of the 1960's. 121 Wannnr-Grsn and ths Granrt Pl3n. 127 Industrial expansion policy i~:thz torsstry sactor. 132 Mining and inv3stment: Two aspects of th. axpansi~nistpolicy. 140 Ministerial minions: Tne rol~of B?nn?ttls cabinet.144 State +xp~nditurssin British Columbia, 1954- 1972. 147 Chapter Five. THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT TN CRFATTNG NEW ;"c- RESOURCE SETTLEMENTS IN THE RRTTTSF COLUMBIA HINTERLAND - 1964 to 1972. 161 - Hist-orical cont?xt of c~lmpanytowns in gritish Columbia. It54 Social Credit policy in British Colum hia. 170 Thu ro12 of Camphnll as Minist~rof klunicipai Affairs - 1962 to 1972. 172 The theory an6 practice of Campbell s sa~ttlesent policies. 179 The assertion of qovernmsnt and corpor it+ control over new hinterland res~~urc-2towns. 186 " viii Chapter Six. PLANNING IN THE HINTERLAND RESOURCE AREAS. I LO2 ~anadianheritage of resourc.3 tow; :>lannii:g. LOU planning-for-pcrmanenc~. 206 Resource town planninq in British C3lumbi-i - 1962 t~ 1972. 213 J' The contpnt and impact of r+gulations anti controls. 2~3~' Corporate housinq strategy and sattlnit~~ntplanning. 233 A dosiqn for society. Chapter Seven. SOCIO-ECONOMIC MANIFESTATIONS AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HINTERLAIJD INSTANT TOWNS. 253 p!' social structure and class conflict in Instant Towns in British Columbia. socio-economic fna turds 3f Instact Towns - Labour Turnovsr. Implications of deinograpnSc chany~s. Isolation. fmprrmanence and instability of Instlilt Towns. Residual and syst~nicf eaturns of Inst3nt Towns.