Machines vs. Industries? The Political Economy of Development in The Peel Watershed by Gordon Jack Daniel Ruby B.A., University of Victoria, 2009 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Political Science Gordon Jack Daniel Ruby, 2011 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Machines vs. Industries? The Political Economy of Development in The Peel Watershed by Gordon Jack Daniel Ruby B.A., University of Victoria, 2009 Supervisory Committee Dr. Warren Magnusson, (Department of Political Science) Supervisor Dr. Jamie Lawson, (Department of Political Science) Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Warren Magnusson, (Department of Political Science) Supervisor Dr. Jamie Lawson, (Department of Political Science) Departmental Member The Peel Watershed Planning Process began in the Yukon and Northwest Territories in 2004. This thesis describes the Peel Watershed Planning Commission and the main interests influencing the planning process. I explore the explanatory potential of several theories draw from urban political economy ‐‐ John Logan and Harvey Molotch’s growth machine thesis, Clarence Stone’s regime theory, and Bob Jessop and Neil Brenner’s account of rescaling the state – and suggest that each of these theories can be used to explain certain aspects of Peel Watershed politics. Then I turn to the assimilationist literature on First Nations in Canada – represented by the 1969 White Paper, Tom Flanagan’s First Nations?, Second Thoughts and Frances Widdowson and Albert Howard’s Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry – and contrast it with an alternative literature, represented especially by Paul Nadasdy’s Hunters and Bureaucrats. I argue that these literatures draw attention to aspects of the politics of planning that are neglected in the urban political economy literature, but are of obvious importance in the context of the Peel Watershed. Although questions of community preservation and wealth accumulation are central to the Peel Watershed planning process, worldviews and ways of life are also at stake. This suggests that we have to look at the politics of planning in very broad terms. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. iv List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... vii List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................ ix Dedication ................................................................................................................................................. x Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: The Peel Watershed Planning Commission ......................................................... 12 The Five Ws and the H of the Peel Watershed Planning Commission ........................................ 12 The Recommended Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan ....................................................... 16 The Peel Watershed Planning Region: Issues and Interests .......................................................... 18 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2: Peel Watershed Politics ............................................................................................... 26 Environment .................................................................................................................................................... 26 Tourism ............................................................................................................................................................. 29 Yukon Territorial Government ................................................................................................................. 30 Mining ................................................................................................................................................................ 35 First Nations Governments ........................................................................................................................ 38 Oil/Gas/Coal .................................................................................................................................................... 44 Other ................................................................................................................................................................... 47 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 47 Chapter 3: The Growth Machine Theory, Regime Theory and Rescaling the State: Reflections on Peel Watershed Politics ....................................................................................... 48 John Logan, Harvey Molotch and the Growth Machine Thesis ...................................................... 48 Growth Machine .......................................................................................................................................................... 50 Place Entrepreneurs .................................................................................................................................................. 52 Typology of Places ...................................................................................................................................................... 54 Use and Exchange Value ........................................................................................................................................... 56 Critical Literature on the GMT .................................................................................................................. 61 Cox and Mair’s Critique of Urban Fortunes ...................................................................................................... 61 Robert Lake’s Critique of Urban Fortunes ........................................................................................................ 63 Jonas and Wilson 20 Years Later .............................................................................................................. 65 v Allan Cochrane’s Critique of the Growth Machine Thesis .......................................................................... 65 Clarence Stone and Regime Theory ........................................................................................................ 69 Rescaling the State ........................................................................................................................................ 73 Jessop, Peck and Tickell’s Critique of the Growth Machine Thesis......................................................... 74 Bob Jessop and the Future of the Capitalist State .......................................................................................... 77 Bob Jessop and State Power ................................................................................................................................... 81 Neil Brenner and New State Spaces .................................................................................................................... 83 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 86 Chapter 4: Indigeneity and Biocentrism: Hidden Ontologies/Epistemologies in the Course of Progress .............................................................................................................................. 88 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 88 The White Paper............................................................................................................................................. 89 Flanagan’s First Nations? Second Thoughts ......................................................................................... 93 Widdowson and the Aboriginal Industry .............................................................................................. 95 Paul Nadasdy, Hunters and Bureaucrats ............................................................................................. 101 Cruickshank, McClellan and Dobrowolsky